Corruption scandal clouds New Jersey governor's re-election bid

The governor is not implicated in any wrongdoing. However, he asked for and received the resignation of his Community Affairs commissioner, whose home and offices were raided by FBI agents in the Thursday sweep.

The mayor of Hoboken, where Corzine lives, was also arrested.

The extent of the political fallout for Corzine is still unknown.

"In the very short run there are a lot of people who are hitting the panic button, they're nervous, they're concerned," Michael Murphy, a former county prosecutor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said of Democrats who are watching the Corzine campaign. "But it's July. There's a lot of time for this to play out."

The governor trails GOP challenger Chris Christie in early polls. Christie and his running mate, Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno, are both former prosecutors who have vowed to clean up New Jersey's culture of corruption.

Murphy, who said he spoke with the governor by telephone on Friday, ended their 10-minute conversation convinced that Corzine remained committed to the race even after 44 people were rounded up by federal authorities in Thursday's early morning corruption bust. The investigation was overseen by Christie while he was U.S. attorney and continued under his successor, U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra.

"Jon Corzine is a fighter," said Murphy. "At the end of the day, he is still a Marine. He's digging in and going to stay the course" through the Nov. 3 election.