New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is talking up gay marriage.

In responding to Newark daily the Star-Ledger, Corzine said “I think we ought to go to marriage equality.”

Corzine, a Democrat, has quietly promised the state's gay and lesbian community that if reelected he would shepherd a gay marriage bill through the Legislature. Opponents have blasted Corzine, saying he is simply pandering to his gay supporters. Corzine signed a civil unions law in 2006, calling it a “proud” moment, but made it clear that he believed marriage was reserved for heterosexual unions.

“That is not where my personal views are because I was brought up in the context of religious beliefs that would define marriage as between a man and a woman,” he told the Star-Ledger.

But lately Corzine has shifted on the issue, even appearing last summer at a Gay Pride festival in Asbury Park.

“I want to be very clear on this,” Corzine said. “I don't call it gay marriage. I call it marriage equality because I believe that we ought to be treating people under our Constitution here in the state of New Jersey as determined by our courts. There needs to be equal treatment under the law. If it's lame-duck, or if it doesn't occur in lame-duck, I'll push for it in the next year.”

Chris Christie, Corzine's Republican opponent, responded that he was “not a supporter of same-sex marriage.”

“I think civil unions are strong and I think they're good and I'm a supporter of civil unions and the civil union law in New Jersey,” Christie said. “But I am not a supporter of same-sex marriage.”

“I think that's something that the people should vote on, not the Legislature,” he added.