When Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., died earlier this week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had three choices on replacing him: 1) appoint a Republican to fill out Lautenberg’s term through 2014; 2) call a special election in November that coincided with his own re-election; or 3) schedule a special election sometime before his own re-election.

Nationally, most Republicans likely would favor the first option because it would result in one less automatic “yes” vote for President Obama’s agenda in the Senate. Fiscally, the state of New Jersey would have preferred the second option, because it would have saved the state an estimated $12 million by holding two elections at the same time. Instead, Christie chose option number three, which benefits no one but Chris Christie.