Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he was the United States attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2008 and a Morris County commissioner from 1995 to 1997. He was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and 2024.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Christie graduated from the University of Delaware in 1984 and later earned a J.D. at Seton Hall University School of Law. He began his political career as a volunteer for Republican Thomas Kean's 1981 gubernatorial campaign. In 1994, Christie was elected as a county freeholder for Morris County, New Jersey. His campaign that year was met with criticism as he had made several false statements about his opponent's legal issues. This criticism led to Christie losing his 1996 reelection campaign in the Republican primary. He later worked for the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush; after Bush became president, he appointed Christie U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, a position he held from January 2002 to December 2008. During his tenure, he oversaw the convictions of 130 public officials from both local and state levels.
Christie won the 2009 Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey and defeated Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine in the general election. In his first term, he was credited with cutting spending, capping property tax growth and engaging in recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy. He was re-elected by a wide margin in 2013, defeating State Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono. Christie's second term saw multiple controversies, namely the Fort Lee lane closure and his various absences from the state. He chaired the Republican Governors Association during the 2014 campaign. His term as governor expired in 2018 and he registered as a lobbyist in 2020.
On June 30, 2015, Christie announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election, but he suspended his candidacy six months later following a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary. Later, he endorsed eventual winner Donald Trump and was named head of Trump's transition planning team. He remained a close ally of Trump during his presidency but later emerged as a critic following Trump's refusal to accept his loss in the 2020 United States presidential election and the subsequent January 6 Capitol attack. On June 6, 2023, Christie announced his second presidential campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election. His campaign was notable in its criticism of Trump compared to other Republican candidates. He ultimately dropped out of the Republican primary before voting started.
Early life
Christie was born on September 6, 1962, in Newark, New Jersey, to Sondra A., a telephone receptionist, and Wilbur James "Bill" Christie, a certified public accountant who graduated from Rutgers Business School. His mother was of Italian ancestry, and his father is of German, Scottish, and Irish descent. Christie's family moved to Livingston, New Jersey, after the 1967 Newark riots, and Christie lived there until he graduated from Livingston High School in 1980. At Livingston, Christie served as class president, played catcher for the baseball team, and was selected as a New Jersey Representative to the United States Senate Youth Program.Christie's father and mother were Republican and Democratic, respectively. He has credited his Democratic-leaning mother for indirectly making him a Republican by encouraging him to volunteer for the gubernatorial candidate who became his role model, Tom Kean. Christie had become interested in Kean after the politician, then a state legislator, spoke to Christie's junior high school class.
Christie graduated from the University of Delaware in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science; while there, he served as president of the student body. He graduated from Seton Hall University School of Law with a J.D. in 1987. He was admitted to the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Bar of the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, in December 1987. He was awarded honorary doctorate degrees by Rutgers University and Monmouth University in 2010.
Law practice and local politics
Lawyer
In 1987, Christie joined the law firm of Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci of Cranford, New Jersey. In 1993, he was named a partner in the firm. Christie specialized in securities law, appellate practice, election law, and government affairs. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the New Jersey State Bar Association and was a member of the Election Law Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association. From 1999 to 2001, Christie was registered statehouse lobbyist for Dughi and Hewit.Morris County freeholder
Christie volunteered for the 1992 re-election campaign of President George H. W. Bush in New Jersey and became close to Bush's state director, Bill Palatucci. Following the campaign, Christie decided to run for office and moved to Mendham Township, New Jersey. In 1993, Christie launched a primary challenge against the New Jersey Senate Majority Leader, John H. Dorsey. However, Christie's campaign ended after Dorsey successfully challenged the validity of Christie's petition to appear on the ballot.In 1994, Christie was elected as a Republican to the Board of Chosen Freeholders, or legislators, for Morris County, New Jersey, after he and a running mate defeated incumbents in the party primary. Following the election, the defeated incumbents filed a defamation lawsuit against Christie based on statements made during the primary campaign. Christie had incorrectly stated that the incumbents were under "investigation" for violating certain local laws. The lawsuit was settled out of court, with Christie acknowledging that the prosecutor had convened an "inquiry" instead of an "investigation", and apologizing for the error, which he said was unintentional.
As a county commissioner, Christie required the county government to obtain three quotes from qualified firms for all contracts. He led a successful effort to bar county officials from accepting gifts from people and firms doing business with the county. He voted to raise the county's open space tax for land preservation; however, county taxes, on the whole, were decreased by 6.6% during his tenure. He successfully pushed for the dismissal of an architect hired to design a new jail, saying that the architect was costing taxpayers too much money. The architect then sued Christie for defamation over remarks he made about the dismissal, eventually dropping the suit without explanation.
In 1995, Christie announced a bid for a seat in the New Jersey General Assembly. He and attorney Rick Merkt ran on a ticket against incumbent Assemblyman Anthony Bucco and attorney Michael Patrick Carroll in the Republican primary. Christie ran as a pro-choice candidate and supporter of the ban on assault weapons. Bucco and Carroll, the establishment candidates, defeated the up-and-comers by a wide margin. After this loss, Christie's bid for re-nomination to the freeholder board was unlikely, as unhappy Republicans recruited John J. Murphy to run against Christie in 1997. Murphy defeated Christie in the primary. Murphy, who had falsely accused Christie of having the county pay his legal bills in the architect's lawsuit, was sued by Christie after the election. They settled out of court with the freeholders admitting wrongdoing and apologizing. Christie's career in Morris County politics was over by 1998.
Lobbyist
When Christie's part-time position as a chosen freeholder lapsed, he returned full attention to his law firm Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci. Alongside fellow partner and later, gubernatorial campaign fundraiser Bill Palatucci, Christie's firm opened an office in the state capital, Trenton, devoted mainly to lobbying. Between 1999 and 2001, Christie and Palatucci lobbied on behalf of GPU Energy for deregulation of New Jersey's electric and gas industry; the Securities Industry Association to block the inclusion of securities fraud under the state's Consumer Fraud Act; Hackensack University Medical Center for state grants; and the University of Phoenix for a New Jersey higher education license. During the 2000 United States presidential election, Christie was George W. Bush's campaign lawyer for the state of New Jersey.United States Attorney
Appointment
On December 7, 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Christie the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. During Republican presidential debates in August 2015 and November 2023, Christie falsely claimed he had been appointed by President Bush on September 10, 2001, and that the 9/11 attacks occurred in his state the next day. Some members of the New Jersey Bar professed disappointment at Christie's lack of experience. At the time, he had never practiced in a federal courtroom before, and had little experience in criminal law. Christie received the overwhelming support of the Republican Party in New Jersey. A spokesperson for Governor Donald DiFrancesco, who selected nominees for the position, said that he received hundreds of letters of support for Christie "from everyone from the Assembly speaker down to the county level, close to every member of the Legislature and every county chairman." Christie was also a top fundraiser for Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. He helped raise $350,000 for Bush, qualifying him as a "Pioneer", and also donated to DiFrancesco. Democrats seized upon the role played by Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove, after Christie's law partner, William Palatucci, a Republican political consultant and Bush supporter, boasted that he had selected a United States attorney by forwarding Christie's résumé to Rove. According to New Jersey's senior senator, Bob Torricelli, Christie promised to appoint a "professional" with federal courtroom experience as deputy if confirmed. By Senate tradition, if a state's senior Senator opposes the nomination of a U.S. Attorney, the nomination is effectively dead, but Christie's promise was enough for Torricelli to give the nomination his blessing. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 2001, and sworn into office on January 17, 2002.The brother of Christie's uncle, Tino Fiumara, was an organized crime figure. According to Christie, the FBI presumably knew that when they conducted his background check. Later, Christie recused himself from the case and commented about what he had learned growing up with such a relative, "It just told me that you make bad decisions in life and you wind up paying a price."