Gov. Chris Christie suspends campaign after New Hampshire showing

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie officially dropped out of the 2016 presidential race on Wednesday afternoon, making the announcement on his Facebook page.  

Christie said elections are unpredictable and he has won and lost races that defied expectations. 

His campaign began less than a year ago at the end of June, where he was the 14th Republican to announce his candidacy. 

After polling at 2 percent in Iowa and 7 percent in New Hampshire, Christie said he was returning to New Jersey to consider the trajectory of his campaign — which made his attendance at Saturday's GOP debate unlikely. 

"I will continue to reinforce what I have always believed — that speaking your mind matters, that experience matters, that competence matters and that it will always matter in leading our nation," Christie said in a statement suspending his campaign today on his website. 

Professor Jim Stimson, a UNC political science professor, said in an email that he was not surprised with Christie’s departure from the 2016 race.

“I thought Christie was dead in the water at the start from Bridgegate,” Stimson said.

Bridgegate refers to the closure of the George Washington Bridge by Christie's administration, which caused traffic jams and drew allegations of political retaliation against a New Jersey mayor. 

“Even if he was not personally in charge of the bridge fiasco, it was his people, thinking that they were doing what he wanted, who were," Stimson said. 

At last Saturday’s GOP debate hosted by ABC, Christie made several pointed attacks directed toward Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, concerning his Senate record and dependence on rehearsed speeches.

Frank Pray, the chairperson of the UNC College Republicans, said Christie’s attacks on Rubio might not have been the smartest political move.

“What they misjudged is the fact that while it may have hurt Rubio, it didn’t help his own campaign," Pray said. "It helped (Jeb) Bush and it helped (John) Kasich, not him.”

Pray said a nomination for Christie was going to be difficult from the start because of the saturated Republican field, which includes several “establishment” candidates.

“I think that really hurt Christie,” he said.

Pray also said he could not think of anything the campaign could have done to boost Christie's polling numbers, but is optimistic about the GOP candidates who remain and their appeal to younger voters. 

Geoffrey Skelley, a spokesperson for the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said in an email that attacks on Rubio's campaign were not beneficial overall. These benefitted the campaigns of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and current Ohio Gov. John Kasich more, he said. 

Skelley compared Christie’s attacks against Rubio to a Hail Mary for his campaign.

“It seems that his best shot for the presidency might have been to run in 2012, when he was much more popular at home and in the party as a whole,” he said. “While he created plenty of his own problems as governor of New Jersey, timing and luck are critical parts of success in politics, and Christie didn’t have either in the 2016 cycle."

Christie said though the campaign has ended, his political advocacy will continue. 

"I will continue to fight for my belief that government needs to once again work for the people, not for the people who work for the government," he said on his website. 

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