Chris Christie ‘Absolutely’ Continuing His Campaign After New Hampshire’s Primary

Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, Nev., on Oct. 28, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Former New Jersey Governor and GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie is determined to stay in the 2024 election race, regardless of what results may come in the upcoming New Hampshire primary.

In a Nov. 26 interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Mr. Christie said he “absolutely” plans to continue his campaign through the New Hampshire primary and expects to be in “this race through to the convention.”

“I think we’re showing great momentum in New Hampshire. We’ve been gaining over the last couple of weeks,” he said.

“I think we’re going to continue to gain in that fight. And I think we’re going to do very, very well in New Hampshire on January 23,” he added.

Mr. Christie further stated that, in his opinion, Gov. Doug Burgum and⁢ former Gov. Asa​ Hutchinson will be the next to drop out of the GOP race. He claimed again to have qualified for the fourth GOP debate on Dec. 6 at the University of Alabama campus.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) requires candidates to have secured at least 80,000 unique donors—a 10,000 increase since the previous Miami debate. Candidates must also win at least six percent of the vote in at least one national and one state poll.

It’s unclear if Mr. Christie has met the requirements.

Only a Few True Contenders Left in the Race

Mr. Christie also said that, in his mind, only four genuine contenders are left in the 2024 presidential election race, him being one of them. In Mr. Christie’s opinion, everyone else still “hanging around the fringe of the race” is not a serious contender.

“This is the smallest Republican field at this stage in this century that did not include an incumbent. The smallest,” he said.

“In 2007, there were nine. This race has consolidated nicely. You now, in my view, have four major contenders: Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, me, and Nikki Haley.”

Former president Donald Trump has been a frontrunner in most polling. In the most recent CNN poll cited during the interview, the 45th president has an estimated 42 percent of the vote. Former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is in second with 20 percent, while Mr. Christie is in third with 14 percent of the vote.

However, Mr. Christie cautioned against taking too much stock in polls, saying voters will ultimately decide who is president—not polls. He pointed to polling data from the 2008 New Hampshire Republican primary, which showed Sen. John McCain in third place at a roughly similar moment in the race before he ultimately won the state, as an example of polling data being wrong.

“This idea of people just doing math and adding up numbers, that’s not the way voters vote. And so you know, I would say to everybody out there, let’s let the campaign move forward,” he said.

He also shot down any potential alliance between himself and Mrs. Haley.

Mr. Christie says he has the same goal as Mrs. Haley, “to be president of the United States,” and that he will not be working with her in this race, or dropping out early to consolidate support behind one candidate.

Mr. Christie also revealed he’s planning to campaign in Michigan where another primary will take place in late February, indicating that he plans to stay in the 2024 presidential election race for the foreseeable future.

In an interview with ABC News, Mr. Christie said his campaign will “focus most of our time and energy” on New Hampshire for the time being but “our next two focuses will be South Carolina and Michigan.”