Chris Christie Endorses Donald Trump Ahead of Super Tuesday

By TOM DAVIS (Patch Staff)

Voters in Virginia and 11 other states head to the polls on Tuesday to select their Presidential Primary favorites, a voters on the fence about picking a favorite now have a new surprise endorsement to consider.

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, whose hopes for the Republican nomination for president were crushed by consecutive poor showings in the party’s primaries including his final race, which ended in a whipping in New Hampshire, has endorsed real estate developer Donald Trump.

“He’s been my friend for many years, he’s been a spectacular governor,” said Trump, standing with Christie at a press conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

“I am proud to be here to endorse Donald Trump,” Christie, noting the two have been friends for a decade, according to the Times.

Christie, who acted triumphantly after his debate-takedown of Marco Rubio, told his supporters that he’s going home to assess “how we move here from this race.”

With a reputation for unpredictability himself, Christie’s endorsement was not totally unexpected but seemed to take the political world by surprise with the endorsement coming less than a week before Super Tuesday, the biggest primary day on the calendar.

Trump was known to be especially happy about Christie’s takedown of Rubio, who went after Trump during Thursday night’s debate for his financial dealings.

When he announced his bid last summer, Christie became the first former or sitting New Jersey governor to launch a presidential campaign since President Woodrow Wilson, although Robert Meyner received 43 votes at the 1960 Democratic Convention.

Christie banked on his brash image - an approach that served him well when he provided an aura of strong leadership during the worst of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 - to carry him to the GOP nomination.

In the end, however, others - such as Donald Trump - took the tell-it-like-it-is mantle away from Christie and scored their own successes, while Christie floundered and failed to gain traction.

In his home state, his approach also could be wearing thin. A recent poll shows he has a 30 percent approval rating in New Jersey, which is among the lowest approval ratings for any of the state’s governors in the past 25 years.

The ”Bridgegate” scandal - the George Washington Bridge lane-closing political payback scheme that led to a guilty plea and the indictment of two ex-Christie aides - became Christie’s first political setback soon after he was re-elected by a landslide in 2013.