Governor Christie at his campaign headquarter in Bedford, N.H. on Feb. 2, 2016. Photo by Dustin Racioppi
NASHUA, N.H. – New England’s most popular Republican governor has endorsed Governor Christie and will appear with him this weekend in a last stand for support ahead of a primary vote that could force his exit from the presidential race if he doesn’t perform well.
The backing of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, announced by the campaign Friday, could give Christie a crucial boost to his flagging candidacy in New Hampshire, where the latest polls show his support slipping as arch-rival Marco Rubio rises off a third-place finish in Mondays Iowa caucuses.
The newest survey, an NBC News/WSJ/Marist poll released Friday morning, said Christie had 4 percent support from likely Republican primary voters, down from 7 percent last week, before he finished 10th out of 12 candidates in Iowa. Florida Sen. Rubio, meanwhile, rose to 17 percent from 11 percent. Real estate developer and reality television star Donald Trump held onto his lead, with 30 percent support.
Three other polls released after Iowa’s caucuses all showed the same trend of Christie’s support declining and Rubio’s increasing. Christie has waged a full assault on Rubio and his legislative record, calling him “the boy in the bubble” who is unqualified to be president.
Baker announced his endorsement of Christie today and will appear at a rally in Bedford on Saturday morning, hours ahead of the final Republican debate before next week’s primary vote. Baker’s lieutenant governor, Karyn Polito, also endorsed Christie.
“Right now, our country is in dire need of Governor Christie’s tested, and strong leadership,” Baker said in a statement.
Christie helped get Baker into office in Massachusetts, a blue state, in 2014 as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, raising more than $11 million for his campaign.
And Baker’s approval in Massachusetts has mirrored Christie’s early popularity in New Jersey, with support as high as 85 percent. Baker is often called the most popular governor in America – certainly in New England, which could help raise Christie’s fortunes in New Hampshire, which shares a border with Massachusetts.
Christie has said he intends to perform the best among the field of governors in Tuesday’s primary, and as recently as Wednesday morning said his goal was to gain enough momentum off a strong New Hampshire showing to earn the support of governors around the country. But on Wednesday night he told The Washington Post that, true to long-held speculation, the New Hampshire primary could make or break his White House bid.
“I’ve got to beat Jeb and Kasich here, and if I don’t beat Jeb and Kasich here, I have to think long and hard about whether I go forward or not,” Christie told the Post, referring to former Florida governor and the current Ohio governor.
Christie and Baker both attended a Bruce Springsteen concert in Boston on Thursday night, according to their Twitter accounts. Christie was scheduled to hold three town hall-style meetings Friday. He was joined in the morning at a town hall in Dover by Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who has also endorsed him.
