Governor Chris Christie is edging closer to running for president in 2016 by launching an organization that will allow the New Jersey governor to raise the money needed for a presidential bid.
The Political Action Committee (PAC), called Leadership Matters for America, formed by supporters, will provide Christie the ability to begin hiring staff, build the foundation for a campaign operation, and travel across the country as he makes the decision of whether or not he will run in 2016, the Associated Press reports. The necessary paperwork to launch the PAC was filed with the Federal Election Commission on Friday.
This is just the latest action taken by Chris Christie that seems to move him one step closer to a presidential run in 2016 and comes just weeks after Jeb Bush launched two PACs in anticipation of a 2016 campaign.
Chris Christie will soon make fundraising stops in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, and California.
In another move to garner support for a presidential bid, Christie attended the Iowa Freedom Summit on Saturday. In his speech to the conservative crowd, the NJ governor touted his success in winning over NJ voters as a pro-life Republican. According to Politico , the governor maintained being pro-life is not a political liability anywhere in the United States. He also called for an expanded vision of pro-life that includes not just the unborn, but the born as well, speaking to reforms he presided over in NJ that allowed nonviolent drug offenders the chance to go to rehab in order to avoid jail time.
“We need as a pro-life movement to not just be talking about those first nine months. In New Jersey, we have said that those who fall victim to the scourge of drug addiction, that those lives are valuable, too.”
Although Christie has yet to formally announce an intention to run in 2016, all signs are pointing to his being a candidate in the Republican primaries. However, as the Associated Press points out, if Chris Christie runs for president in 2016, he will have challenges to overcome, one being the still-pending federal investigation into Bridgegate , where the NJ governor is accused of abusing his power by ordering the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge to get back at a local mayor who did not support his reelection. The New Jersey economy is another problem he will need to overcome, including several recent downgrades of the state’s credit rating and sluggish job growth.
[Image via State of New Jersey ]
