Paul Mulshine in the New Jersey Star-Ledger broke the story:

Christie said of Harris and his other nominee, Phillip Kwon of Bergen County, “I did not ask them about specific cases.” He pointed to two other cases of concern to conservatives, the Abbott school-funding decisions and the Mount Laurel decisions on affordable housing, and said “to the extent that they’ve taken positions on those issues, they’re going to have to let us know that.”

It turns out Harris has already done so, at least when it comes to same-sex marriage. Back in 2009, he sent an e-mail to the Republicans then representing Chatham in the Legislature urging all three to vote in favor of same-sex marriage.

“You have met me and my partner of nearly 30 years, Marc, on more than one occasion at various political gatherings” he wrote. “The New Jersey Supreme Court has already determined that our relationship is entitled to the equal protection guarantees of the State Constitution.”

The e-mail went on to urge the legislators to go to the site of Garden State Equality, a gay rights group, to view two videos “that provide sad examples of the failures of the civil union law.”

One of the recipients of the e-mail was state Sen. Joe Pennacchio. When I phoned him, he said he recalled having a brief talk with Harris after receiving the e-mail.