Chris Christie: If I Flop in New Hampshire, I'll Quit

Chris Christie is lagging in the polls, but he's making what the New York Times calls a "big bet" on the 2024 race. "I can't see myself leaving the race under any circumstances before New Hampshire," he tells the newspaper. "If I don't do well in New Hampshire, then I'll leave." The former New Jersey governor is putting the vast majority of his campaign effort into the state—somewhere around 90% of his events since February, according to the Times. It may be paying off: The Hill notes that a recent Emerson College poll has him in second place at 9% in New Hampshire, though still well behind Donald Trump at 49%.

Christie continues to be the lone GOP candidate who consistently goes after Trump, and he's hoping that the state's independent-minded voters will reward him for that. "The fact is that there are no perfect candidates in this race, as I said before," Christie said at a town hall in Bedford this week, per NBC News. "I would point out that I'm not under four criminal indictments. I'm not even under one criminal indictment." New Hampshire's primary date isn't scheduled yet, but it's expected to take place in January. (More Chris Christie 2024 stories.)