Report: Chris Christie looking at becoming GOP chair
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who lost his spot as chairman of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team last month, is reportedly eyeing a new job: Republican National Committee chairman.
Politico reports that Christie has expressed interest in the post currently held by Reince Priebus, whom Trump has tapped as his chief of staff. Priebus, who was elected RNC chairman in 2011 and reelected in 2013, said he would remain as chair until a successor is named.
A representative for the New Jersey governor did not immediately return a request seeking comment.
Christie met with Trump last month in Bedminster, N.J., where the president-elect was auditioning potential candidates for his Cabinet.
But Trump’s relationship with Christie, a former GOP rival who endorsed him early during the campaign and became one of his top advisers, has reportedly soured of late.
Last month, Yahoo News reported that Christie’s ouster as head of the transition team came amid Trump’s “growing concerns” about the governor’s role in the Bridgegate scandal, in which two of Christie’s close aides were convicted of conspiracy on Nov. 4. During the trial, witnesses testified that Christie was aware of the plan to tie up traffic in Fort Lee, N.J., to punish its mayor, though the governor has steadfastly denied any role.
Related: How Christie lost his spot on the Trump transition team
And Christie, once considered a possible candidate for Trump’s attorney general, said last week that he has no plans to leave New Jersey for Trump’s White House, and expects to finish his term as governor in 2017. (Term limits prevent him from seeking reelection in Trenton.)
“For some reason people think I’m equivocal on this, and I’m not. I am completing my term,” Christie told reporters. “For those of you who would be distraught over the idea that I would leave before Jan. 18 of 2018, no reason for you to be distraught. I’m not leaving. For those of you who would be looking forward to me leaving before Jan. 18 of 2018, sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not going to.”
But he also left the door at least a crack open.
“If something extraordinary happens in the world where my service is needed, I will consider a request,” Christie said.
The RNC is expected to meet in mid-January before the inauguration to elect its next chair.
In August, Politico reported that former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who like Christie lost to Trump during the GOP primary, was exploring a possible bid for RNC chair. Other possible candidates included Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham and Matt Pinnell, a former Oklahoma GOP chair who is the RNC’s national state party director.
At that time, Priebus was mulling another reelection bid while resisting calls from RNC members to cut ties with Trump.
