Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey who has rebranded himself as a fierce critic of Donald Trump, filed Federal Election Commission paperwork to run for president on Tuesday.
Christie will deliver a speech at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire Tuesday evening to announce his 2024 bid.
The former governor joins an increasingly crowded field. Former vice president Mike Pence filed paperwork to run on Monday and is expected to announce his launch in Iowa on Wednesday. In addition to Trump, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott have also entered the race.
Before becoming governor of the Garden State, Christie was U.S. attorney for the district of New Jersey. He is known for his rhetorical punch and is expected to particularly focus on the Republican debates.
When he ran for president in 2016, Christie sparred with Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) on a debate stage in an encounter that significantly damaged Rubio’s candidacy.
The ex–New Jersey governor will hope to land similar blows against Trump this time around, despite the fact he was one of the first high-profile politicians to endorse Trump in 2016. “You better have somebody on that stage who can do to him what I did to Marco, because that’s the only thing that’s gonna defeat Donald Trump,” Christie explained earlier this year.
Doubts have emerged about whether Christie will stick to attacking Trump alone. The New Jersey governor made headlines for his pointed criticism of DeSantis, who is currently second in the polls. Like Pence, Christie targeted DeSantis for his feud with Disney, arguing: “I don’t think Ron DeSantis is a conservative.”
Christie has also highlighted his position leading a blue state. He won two terms as New Jersey governor and led New Jerseyans through Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Christie also served as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. While he maintained high popularity for much of his tenure, his support dropped before he left office owing to the “Bridgegate” scandal among other issues.
Recent polls only have Christie in the low single digits, but he has argued that he would not be entering the race if he did not see a path to victory.