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Bridgegate
*From [https://www.chrischristie.com/issues Christie’s website]
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*Name: Christopher James Christie
*Date of Birth: September 6, 1962
*Place of Birth: Newark, New Jersey
*Religion: Catholic
*Marital Status: Married (Mary Pat)
*Children: Andrew (21), Sarah (19), Patrick (15) and Bridget (11)
*Alma Mater: University of Delaware (BA), Seton Hall University School of Law (JD)
*Political Career: Governor of New Jersey (2010-present); U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey (2002-2008); Freeholder, Morris County (1995-1998)
*Twitter Handle: @GovChristie
Christie was born and raised in New Jersey. He began his career as lawyer, won his first election in 1994 as a freeholder for Morris County, but lost the next year in a bid to win a seat in New Jersey’s state Assembly. He moved to New Jersey’s capital, Trenton, in 1998, not as an elected official but as a lobbyist for energy companies.
He raised funds for the George W. Bush campaign in 2000, and in 2002 Bush appointed him U.S. attorney for New Jersey. He held the position until 2008. In 2009 he won the New Jersey governorship by defeatingincumbent Governor Jon Corzine.
Christie soon became a hot commodity in GOP circles as a tough-talking governor of a state that typically goes blue in presidential elections. He was seen as so appealing that some Republicans tried to recruit him to contest the 2012 presidential election. Christie passed.
But in a twist of fate he became part of the election conversation anyway. Just days before Election Day,Hurricane Sandy devastated the New Jersey coast. Once the waters subsided, Christie praised President Obama’s handling of the storm response and then exchanged a friendly handshake with the president when he visited New Jersey to see the damage firsthand.
Some Republicans were furious with Christie, insisting he had hugged the president and helped him win the presidency. Christie pointed out that, “There was no hug. Stop.” As for being gracious to the president, Christie’s response to the criticism was succinct: “I will not apologize for doing my job.”
Christie’s political star was in ascendance again in 2013 when he won a decisive re-election victory. He beat his overmatched opponent by 22 percentage points. More important, he won a majority of the votes of two constituencies that Republicans have struggled with nationally, women and Hispanics.
'''Bridgegate'''
The political momentum that Christie gained with his re-election victory has since been derailed by the “Bridgegate” scandal. In September 2013, a traffic jam at the entrance to the George Washington Bridge, one of the major crossing points over the Hudson River into New York, snarled traffic in Fort Lee, New Jersey for four days.
It later emerged that members of Christie’s staff had ordered the lane closures that caused the jam. They allegedly wanted to punish Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor for failing to endorse Christie for re-election.
Federal authorities charged two Christie staffers and another New Jersey official with using state resources for political ends. One of the Christie staffers pled guilty; the other two officials are scheduled to go on trial this fall. Christie denies playing a role in the lane closures; an internal probe he commissioned by an outside law firm cleared him of any wrongdoing. He insists that the media owe him an apology for falsely suggesting that he instigated Bridgegate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Christie
=Issues=
*Governor Christie condemned President Obama’s Executive Actions and failure to secure border that have “allowed people to believe that they could come here under any circumstances not under the law and be able to stay here.”
