From political also-ran in the 1990s to successful U.S. Attorney, governor's career has taught him lessons for possible presidential run Watch video
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie is the new kid on the block, intrigued by the promise of a bigger and better job, poised to make a decision that will forever alter his life.
For the breakout Republican star considering a last-minute presidential campaign, it’s a case of déjà vu. In fact, he’s been here twice.
In 1995, Christie ran for the state Assembly after serving only three months as a Morris County freeholder. He not only lost the race but also his party’s support, and his nascent political career appeared over.
A decade later, Republicans pleaded with him to leave his post as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and run for governor. He chose instead to run four years later, and he won.
A look at the governor’s past decisions, both very different, may provide clues to his thinking today as he weighs whether to use his 21 months as governor of New Jersey to slingshot himself into a rigorous presidential campaign.
State Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Essex), one of the Republicans who wanted Christie to run in 2005, said the governor can’t be talked into something he doesn’t want to do.
"If he’s going to run for anything — governor, president, vice president — he’s going to have his own timetable, his own gut check," O’Toole said. "He’s got an inner compass and if it’s not set in the right direction, all systems go, he’s just not going to make a run because everyone around him is asking him to make a run."
PAST POLITICS
Today, Christie is a hot commodity in the national Republican Party. Almost 20 years ago, that’s how he was viewed in Morris County.
That didn’t last long.
Christie ran for freeholder and knocked out the incumbent in a primary battle in 1994, though he was later forced to apologize for a misleading campaign advertisement.
The brash, 34-year-old freeholder continued to rub members of his own party the wrong way, and just a month into his two-year term said he was interested in running for a seat in the state Assembly.
He partnered with another Morris County Republican to run against the incumbent assemblyman — Anthony Bucco, now a state senator — and a newcomer named Michael Patrick Carroll.
Rick Shaftan, a conservative political operative and critic of the governor who worked against Christie in that campaign, recalled a vicious battle. "The seething hatred for this guy among party insiders exploded," Shaftan said.
Christie was trounced in the Assembly primary despite pouring $45,000 of his own money into the campaign.
"I feel I have learned a lot," he said afterward.
But the worst was yet to come for Christie. Angry Republicans bounced him from the freeholder board by defeating him in the 1997 primary. He finished last. When he delivered his concession speech at the Hanover Marriott, emotions were still raw and the crowd largely ignored him.
But Christie remembered one man who confronted him after the speech.
"So, I made my talk and came off the stage, and he grabbed my arm, really tugged at it, and he blew kisses at me," Christie said afterward. "And he said, ‘You know what I’m doing? I’m kissing your (expletive) career good-bye.’ "
As unsettling as it was at the time, Christie said in a 2009 interview that it "is so far in my rearview mirror."
He added, "All it does is inform me of how I’ve grown up."
RESURGENCE
After being routed in Morris County, Christie took a break from elected office, but not from politics.
He teamed up with William Palatucci, a close friend, law partner and political confidante, to raise money for George W. Bush’s first presidential campaign in 2000, and the next year the victorious Bush appointed Christie U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
The choice of Christie, a securities lawyer who had never prosecuted a criminal case, was not embraced by the legal community. When the Federal Bar Association of New Jersey learned he was under consideration, the board passed a resolution saying it wanted a candidate with law enforcement and managerial experience, though it didn’t identify Christie by name.
Before long, however, Christie quelled any doubts about his ability by successfully prosecuting a string of public officials, ultimately compiling about 130 convictions and guilty pleas.
And though Christie never spoke publicly about his political ambitions, Republicans were soon talking him up as a candidate for governor — a straight shooter and an antidote to former Gov. James McGreevey’s scandal-plagued tenure.
Christie talked over the possibility of a run with his wife, brother and father, and decided not to enter the 2005 race.
"As I have said many times, I love this job," Christie said in a statement.
Republicans instead nominated a businessman, Doug Forrester, who went on to lose to one of the state’s Democratic U.S. senators, Jon Corzine.
Christie remained as U.S. Attorney, winning convictions against some of the state’s most influential public officials, including Newark Mayor Sharpe James and two state senators, John Lynch (D-Middlesex) and Wayne Bryant (D-Camden), chairman of the powerful budget committee.
Three years after turning away from his first opportunity, Christie stepped down as U.S. Attorney and soon plunged into the 2009 governor’s race. By then the state’s economy was weak and Corzine, who was widely unpopular, was defeated by Christie in a close and bitter campaign.
David Norcross, a former Republican national committeeman from New Jersey, said Christie chose not to run in 2005 because he wanted to spend enough time as U.S. Attorney to accomplish his goals. He predicted that same reasoning would keep Christie out of the 2012 presidential campaign.
"He is an extraordinarily effective governor and that’s because of the time, energy and commitment he brings to it," Norcross said. "And frankly, that’s why I don’t think he will run. The job isn’t finished and there is nobody who can do it except Chris Christie."
By Chris Megerian and Ginger Gibson/Statehouse Bureau Staff