Ads that tout New Jersey governor Chris Christie's education record and bipartisanship are set to run in his home state markets as part of a $1.6 million television ad campaign by an outside group, The Committee for Our Children's Future.

The group's fourth ad will run in the expensive New York and Philadelphia broadcast markets as well as on New Jersey statewide cable stations over the next three weeks. The ads were first reported by Politico.

The Committee for Our Children's Future launched its fourth ad Thursday and it uses average New Jersey voices praising the possible Romney running mate for working across the aisle and "making the tough decisions."

"As a Democrat," one man says.

"As a Republican," a woman replies before another woman says, "Independents like me."

"We had our doubts," a couple says, all pushing the message they were nervous about the tough- talking Republican governor, but then praise him for balancing two budgets,  "sav[ing] our pensions," and "put[ting] more money in our classrooms."

Virginia governor Bob McDonnell's SuperPAC, Opportunity Virginia, adopted a similar approach last month, pouring nearly $400,000 in advertising promoting the economic success of Virginia.  The move was seen as an attempt to boost McDonnell's poll numbers, which have slipped in recent months, to make the Virginia governor look more appealing as a running mate to Romney's team, but McDonnell's office denied the suggestion.

The group explained the buy as a chance to celebrate Virginia's economic recovery, but raised more eyebrows than the Christie ad buy because the Virginia governor cannot run for re-election, while Christie will be up in 2013.

ABC News' Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.