Former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie became the 11th Republican presidential candidate to announce a 2024 campaign on Tuesday evening.
The former federal prosecutor has been a harsh critic of former President Donald Trump, although he was once one of his earliest supporters. That criticism separates Christie from the other Republican candidates, who have mostly refrained from throwing jabs at the frontrunner.
Since his last foray into national politics, Christie has kept his foot in the door through meetings with donors, by launching his own lobbying firm and with a regular contributor role on ABC News. During his short-lived 2016 run, Christie attracted a handful of billionaire donors to his corner.
Christie announced his candidacy at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics on Tuesday. During his speech, Christie focused on attacking Trump and positioning himself as a humble, moderate solution to the former president, whom he called “a lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog.”
“When I’ve made mistakes, I’ve admitted it,” Christie said. “If your leaders are not willing to admit to you that they are fallible, that they make mistakes, that they hurt like you, that they bleed like you, that they suffer disappointments and let downs: beware.”
Christie said the poor, divisive leadership he has seen from both parties over the last year inspired him to run.
As Christie mulled his return to national politics, he stayed close to some powerful donors. POLITICO reported that Christie was tapped to co-chair a national fundraising program for Republican governors last year. Last November, Axios reported that Christie spoke to “high-level donors” in Orlando, where he blamed Trump for recent GOP failures. Earlier this year, the Texas Tribune reported that he joined fellow Republican hopefuls former S.C. Governor and UN ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence at a private retreat with donors in Texas.
Christie’s allies created the Tell It Like It Is super PAC ahead of his announcement, The New York Times reported. The group is co-chaired by Republican National Committeeman William J. Palatucci from New Jersey, whom Christie met volunteering for George H. W. Bush’s 1992 campaign, according to The New Yorker.
Christie dropped out of the 2016 presidential race one day after getting sixth place in the New Hampshire primary. During his short-lived bid, Christie and the PACs that supported him spent $32 million.
The biggest source of funds was the America Leads super PAC, which spent $18 million supporting Christie. Around $9.3 million of its funds came from seven-figure donations from billionaire donors.
The biggest contributor to the PAC was Steve Cohen, hedge fund manager and owner of the New York Mets. He and his wife, Alexandra, contributed at least $6 million to America Leads. Christie joined the Mets’ Board of Directors in 2021.
Daniel Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage, donated $1.25 million. Frequent conservative donor Walter Buckley and Winecup-Gamble Inc., a ranch owned by former Reebok CEO Paul Fireman, each contributed about $1 million.
During the 2016 cycle, Christie’s campaign committee raised $8.8 million and his leadership PAC, Leadership Matters For America, raised $3.6 million.
Christie became New Jersey’s governor after defeating incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine for the seat in 2009. Christie was outspent by Corzine twice over, yet defeated the incumbent by 4.5 points, becoming the state’s first Republican governor since 1997 and the first person to unseat an incumbent since 1993.
Christie ran for reelection in 2013, this time winning with 60% of the vote and raising $20.3 million, almost three times more than opponent Democrat Barbara Buono raised.
Despite the lopsided victory, second-term scandals caused Christie’s approval ratings to plummet to record lows in 2017.
After leaving office in 2018, Christie became a lobbyist and started his own firm, Christie 55. According to disclosures filed with the U.S. Senate, the firm earned $1.3 million from seven clients. Most of the firm’s lobbying was on behalf of health-sector clients on issues related to public health legislation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to multiple polls taken shortly before Christie’s official announcement, Christie is near the bottom of the Republican pack, while Trump is a clear frontrunner. During his speech, Christie directly addressed comments that he is only running to play the role of Trump’s spoiler.
“The reason I’m going after Trump is twofold. One, he deserves it. And two, it’s the way to win. So these two are not divided,” Christie said. “Let me be very clear: I am going out there to take out Donald Trump, but here’s why — I want to win.”
source
Source: OpenSecrets.org
