Christie Stays on Illinois Presidential Ballot
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie may have suspended his presidential campaign, but he failed to withdraw from the Illinois ballot before Thursday’s deadline.
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Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential primary earlier this week, but he’s still on the ballot.
Thursday was the deadline to withdraw candidacies with the State Board of Elections. Christie and his delegates are all still on the ballot.
More on Christie’s withdrawal from the Associated Press:
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday suspended his Republican presidential bid just days before Iowa’s leadoff caucuses, ceding to growing pressure to drop out of the race from those desperate to deny Donald Trump a glidepath to the nomination.
Addressing supporters at a New Hampshire town hall, Christie said he had come to the conclusion that he had no pathway to victory.
“Campaigns are run to win. That’s why we do them,” he said. “It’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination.”
“My goal has never been to be just a voice against the hate and division and the selfishness of what our party has become under Donald Trump,” he added, vowing to continue to warn the party and the country about the dangers of a second Trump term.
“I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again. And that’s more important than my own personal ambition,” he said.
Christie did not immediately endorse any of rivals and instead continued to lace into them in his remarks for failing to directly target Trump for fear of alienating the front-runner’s loyal supporters. Underscoring his deep frustrations, he was overheard on a hot mic before the event began criticizing former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
“She’s going to get smoked,” he said in an audio broadcast on the campaign’s livestream feed. “She’s not up to this.” He was also overheard saying Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had called him, petrified, but the audio was cut before he finished the thought.
The candidacies of President Joe Biden (as hairbrained as it may be), former President Donald Trump, and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley have all been challenged. Those will be heard in the next couple of weeks.