Is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) about to throw his hat into the race for the GOP nomination for President? It sure looks like it despite declining to enter the fray earlier.
Gov. Christie is a relative newcomer to the national scene. He made news by handily besting former Gov. Jon Corzine (D) in the New Jersey gubernatorial election in 2009. Corzine earned the distinction of being the first governor in New Jersey in more than 15 years to lose the governor’s seat while in office; the last governor to do so was Gov. Jim Florio (D) who lost to then political newcomer Christie Whitman (R) who went on to serve two terms.
Whitman won the 1993 election on roughly the same issues as Christie tackled in 2009. At the top of the list? High taxes. It turns out that New Jersey isn’t such a fan of high taxes – you might have gotten a different feeling by looking at the stats. In 2008, just prior to Christie’s election, New Jersey held the distinction of the state with both the highest property taxes per capita and the worst business tax climate in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation (note: report will download as a pdf). New Jersey residents also ranked highest in the nation at th time with respect to state and local taxes as a percentage of income.
Christie, like Whitman before him, vowed to change all of that. He’s made some strides.
In 2010, the New Jersey governor signed a bill into law that capped property taxes, offering taxpayers some relief. That same year, Christie vetoed the so-called “millionaire’s tax” in the Garden State drawing some ire from the middle class but winning votes among the wealthy.
Christie’s blunt style and forceful manner has clearly brought him some national attention – and not all of it wanted. Earlier this year, in the midst of an ugly budget battle, Christie made headlines when the President of the State Senate in New Jersey, Stephen Sweeney (D), referred to Christie as a “punk” and claimed that he wanted to “punch him in his head.” The back and forth was said to be unpleasant all around. At the same time, stories of Christie’s famous temper re-surfaced such as when he referred to Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D) as a “jerk” for criticizing his use of an official government helicopter to attend his son’s ball game.
Christie’s style – that same style that contributed to a Quinnipiac University poll in which New Jersey voters overwhelmingly chose the word “bully” to describe Christie – is brash for sure. But if he gets results, especially on the tax front, will voters care about his style? It’s clearly going to be an interesting primary.
(Psst… In the next few days, I’ll begin publishing my interviews with declared presidential candidates. Don’t miss it!)
