New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to announce 2016 presidential run

NEWARK, New Jersey — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie launches his bid for president on Tuesday with the goal of re-introducing himself to a national audience. The Republican governor of a largely Democratic state has slipped from favor with fellow party members and faces a tough sell with many conservatives in a crowded election field. He will be the 14th major Republican to enter the race for the party’s nomination, with no clear front-runner so far. Christie had a landslide re-election to a second term as governor in 2013, but he was later nearly felled by scandal involving his aides and deliberate traffic jams at a bridge to New York City in an effort to hurt a political rival. He once was one of the nation’s most popular state leaders, and his turn as head of the Republican Governors Association was widely viewed as a success in the 2014 midterm elections. But his approval ratings have reached record lows at home. Aides now try to emphasize his charismatic personality, quick wit and plain-spoken manner, while fighting some critics’ view of him as a bully. The governor also has been presenting himself as someone unafraid to take on unpopular issues such as overhauling the vast Social Security pension system. Christie often emphasizes his working-class roots as a contrast to candidates like Jeb Bush, the son and brother of presidents. He will use Tuesday’s announcement in the gymnasium of his old high school to show how his upbringing shaped him in articulating his vision for the country. Christie remains close to many of his former classmates, who had an idea even then that a career in politics was in his future. “If you were to poll and ask who would one day be governor, I think Chris would have overwhelmingly won,” said Harlan Coben, now a best-selling author, who served as student council president when Christie was senior class president. In an interview with The Associated Press ahead of his 35th high school reunion earlier this year, Christie talked about some of the lessons he learned from those early races. Among them: Always vote for yourself. Another lesson he said he learned: The more friends the better. “So much of this was about letting people get to know you and having lots of friends,” he said. — AP