Chris Christie

Who is Chris Christie?

Christopher James "Chris" Christie is the 55th Governor of New Jersey, and a leading member of the Republican Party in the United States.

A Newark native, Christie became interested in politics at an early age, and volunteered for the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Tom Kean in 1977. Graduating from the University of Delaware, he then earned a J.D. degree at Seton Hall Law School.

Christie joined a Cranford, New Jersey law firm in 1987, where he became a partner in 1993, and continued practicing until 2002. Meanwhile, he was elected as a county legislator in Morris County, serving from 1995 to 1998 during which time he generally pushed for lower taxes and lower spending. By 2002, Christie had done campaign work for both presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush; the latter appointed him United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey where he served from 2002 to 2008. In that position, he emphasized prosecutions of political corruption, and also obtained convictions for sexual slavery, arms trafficking, racketeering by gangs, and other federal crimes.

In January 2009, Christie declared his candidacy for Governor of New Jersey. He won the Republican primary, and then defeated incumbent Governor Jon Corzine in the general election. Christie, who was seen as a possible candidate in the 2012 presidential election, declined to run, but he delivered the keynote address at the 2012 Republican National Convention. Chris Christie is widely viewed as a possible presidential candidate in 2016.