AP
All of this appears to have perturbed Buono, and she showed it when, during a "lightning round" in Tuesday night's debate, both candidates were asked to say something nice about each other.
Buono responded with a jab at Christie.
"Well, he's good on late-night TV. He's just not so good in New Jersey," Buono said.
Stone-faced, Christie responded by praising Buono's public service.
"She's obviously a good and caring mother, and someone who cares deeply about public service in this state - because she's dedicated a lot of her life to it," Christie said. "And while we have policy disagreements, I would never denigrate her service. I think we need more people who care enough about our communities to be able to stand up and do the job that she's done over the last 20 years."
Here's the clip: