Chris Christie, a former governor of New Jersey, is now commonplace in New Hampshire. Since announcing his quest for the presidency in 2024, he has also spent some time in South Carolina. However, he has thus far completely ignored one significant state: Iowa.
The Republican presidential primary contest usually kicks off with the Iowa caucuses, drawing considerable attention from potential candidates. This year, the delegate race will begin on January 15 in Iowa. As a result, all of the Republican candidates for president have visited the Hawkeye State thus far this year, with the exception of Chris Christie.
I haven’t gone because I haven’t wanted to, Christie responded to NBC News when asked (on a recent trip to New Hampshire) why he hasn’t been to Iowa yet. Furthermore, I’ll leave at a later time if I choose to.
It’s not a novel approach for Christie to spend more time in New Hampshire than in Iowa. Despite not doing it to the same extreme, he did that during his first bid for the presidency.
Between January 1, 2015, and February 1, 2016, NBC News tracked the former governor’s events and found that he spent 32 days in Iowa and made 71 appearances. While everything was going on, Christie was in New Hampshire for 75 days, making 175 stops.
Christie has held 11 press-accessible engagements since July 4 of this year, according to NBC News’ tracker, during his six days in New Hampshire.
It only partially paid off. Christie received 1.8% of the GOP caucus vote in Iowa and placed 10th, but he received 7.4% of the vote the following week in New Hampshire and ended sixth. He withdrew the day after the New Hampshire primary because it wasn’t enough to keep him in the 2016 contest.
Public polling indicates that even after two presidential elections, Christie’s support is still substantially lower in Iowa than it is in New Hampshire. In the FiveThirtyEight database’s most recent 10 Iowa caucus surveys, Christie’s average share was 3%. Christie has received an average of 9% support in the previous 10 New Hampshire primary polls.
Since independents have historically played a significant role in the open primary in New Hampshire, moderate Republican contenders tend to spend more time there than in Iowa. In the 2016 election, NBC News’ exit polling found that there were twice as many self-described moderates in New Hampshire than there were in Iowa.
Additionally, Jeb Bush and Christie spent less time in Iowa in 2015 and 2016 than more traditional Republican contenders. Bush visited Iowa for 27 days and made 50 stops. He made 110 stops over a 55-day period in New Hampshire, according to NBC News’ surveillance of his activities.
Ben Carson, one of the 2016 contenders vying for more conservative support, made 100 stops in Iowa over the course of 44 days, as opposed to 37 stops in New Hampshire over the course of 16 days. According to NBC News’ tracking of their activities, Sen. Ted Cruz made 138 stops in Iowa over the course of 47 days as opposed to 67 stops in New Hampshire over the course of 32 days.
Christie told NBC News, “Look, I’ve got to pick where to best spend my time. Everyone only has so much time, so I’ve chosen to spend mine in South Carolina and New Hampshire. I believe those are the environments where you have the best chance to succeed.
This election year, there is one thing that could actually entice Christie to travel to Iowa: former President Donald Trump.
Christie has stated that he will “follow Trump around the country” if Trump does not take part in any of the debates.
Christie responded, “That’s fascinating, when asked by a reporter if he would accompany Trump to Iowa. That may be. It’s a thoughtful query. Yes, I would probably do it if I thought I could catch him there.
Christie has stated that “anybody” would consider Kim Reynolds, the governor of Iowa, as their running mate despite the fact that he hasn’t visited the Hawkeye State.
I have a long history with her. During a town hall held by SiriusXM’s Steve Scully at New England College, Christie declared, “I really like Kim. She has real-world experience, and I believe she has the qualifications to be president if she so chooses.