Chris Christie would be a strong US Senate candidate for the NJ GOP. Here's why: Kelly

Chris Christie is coming back to New Jersey.

The presidential dream is a bust. So what’s next?

Here’s a thought: How about Senator Christie?

Yes, dear reader, I know what you’re thinking: The former governor has long trashed Congress with the same disdain he exhibited when he chased a random critic down a hot Seaside Heights boardwalk in July 2012 while carrying an ice cream cone — and actually managing to make that dripping cone look like a weapon.

But times change. With Christie having dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday, he has a virtual open road to a nomination in the GOP Senate primary in New Jersey this June. So say some Republicans. The question is: Does he want it?

A big problem here is timing. Candidates have until March 25 to file petitions to enter the primary.

Meanwhile, some Republican county committees have set earlier deadlines if candidates are seeking their endorsements for a prime position on the primary ballot — a virtual guarantee of a winning spot. Bergen County’s GOP committee, for instance, has set a deadline of Feb. 1 to apply for the ballot spot.

So Christie must decide quickly.

Would Christie be a good Senate candidate for NJ? He'd have to explain

Certainly his sudden announcement late Wednesday to leave the race even before next week’s Iowa caucus or the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23, where he had focused most of his campaign efforts, gives him some time to gather his thoughts. But not much.

What’s more, Christie will have to come up with an explanation for why the U.S. Senate might now be more appealing than the White House.

Less than four months ago, after Sen. Bob Menendez, the three-term incumbent Democrat, was indicted on bribery-related charges, Christie firmly declared he had no desire to become the Republican candidate for Senate.

“I have no interest in being in the United States Senate,” Christie told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

On Thursday, Christie’s close adviser William Palatucci told me that the former governor has not changed his mind.

“That’s a non-starter,” Palatucci said of a Senate run by Christie. “Not only has that ship sailed; it was never in the water.”

Palatucci said Christie has often told him that he would “rather commit suicide” than serve in the Senate.

“He’s an executive, not a legislator,” Palatucci added, imagining how Christie would likely fume if he had to sit through a lengthy Senate committee hearing on legislation that might never be adopted.

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What if the NJ GOP attempts to draft Christie?

But what if New Jersey Republicans push for a Christie candidacy? This is the kind of question Christie is likely to face in the coming weeks.

Despite such a firm and long-standing rejection by Christie of a Senate run, Republicans have increasingly talked about a Senate campaign by him in recent weeks as the former governor’s poll numbers in the presidential race seemed dormant.

“He’s our best shot for the Senate,” a Republican leader told me after Christie suspended his presidential campaign late Wednesday.

The reasons for such sentiments are obvious.

Menendez’s prospects for reelection in November are basically nil ― and that’s how Democrats see his chances. He was never a beloved figure, anyway, even within his own party. But after Menendez was indicted ― with a trial scheduled for early May as Democrats gear up for a primary in June ― his political power melted like the wicked witch in "The Wizard of Oz" when she was doused with a bucket of water.

Nevertheless, Menendez has refused to leave and has indicated he plans to run in the June primary. As a result, the November election appears as a golden chance for the GOP in New Jersey to step into the U.S. Senate ― a feat that has eluded the party for decades.

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Democrats know Christie is a formidable combatant

Certainly, Democrats know this. Nearly half the Democrats in the U.S. Senate have since urged Menendez to resign. A Stockton University poll last October found that his approval rating among New Jersey voters had dropped to just 8%. Don’t expect that number to rise anytime soon. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democrat, has turned the dilemma over Menendez into something of a personal crusade, repeatedly urging him to resign.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders across New Jersey, from county party leaders to Gov. Phil Murphy and the state’s other U.S. senator, Cory Booker, have also urged Menendez to quit.

Standing in the wings, with little statewide name recognition, is Rep. Andrew Kim, who represents a large swath of South Jersey and is midway through just his third term in the House.

Most of the Democratic buzz has centered on an untested candidate: Murphy’s wife, Tammy. Not only has she never run for office, she was a registered Republican as late as 2014.

Not surprisingly, Democrats are hamstrung on Tammy Murphy. Many say they fear they would anger the governor and hurt themselves politically if they raised the obvious questions about her qualifications or if they openly supported other, more qualified candidates such as Kim.

Few party members dare to talk on the record.

A prominent Democratic strategist with ties to Murphy said Democrats even worry that Christie may step into the Senate race. Other Democrats say they worry about Tammy Murphy losing an election for such an important Senate seat ― especially when Democrats hold such a slim majority there.

“Democrats are afraid to talk openly about Tammy,” one local official said ― a remark that is typical of what others say. Said another Democratic official: “Nobody is really excited about Tammy Murphy as a Senate candidate.”

'He has name recognition. Plus, he's a fighter'

Which brings us back to the Republicans.

The last New Jersey Republican to be elected to the Senate was Clifford Case, a moderate who left politics in 1979 after losing in a primary to conservative Jeffrey Bell ― who then lost the general election to Democrat Bill Bradley.

Two other Republicans, Nicholas Brady in 1982 and Jeffrey Chiesa in 2013, were appointed by GOP governors to serve for a few months after Democratic incumbents either resigned or died. But Democrats quickly grabbed control of the respective Senate seats once elections were held.

Looking ahead to this year’s Senate race, Republicans have no obvious candidate.

Except Christie — possibly.

“He has name recognition,” a prominent Republican told me on Thursday. “Plus, he’s a fighter.”

Of course, this Republican added, there is the not-so-small problem of the Bridgegate scandal in 2013 and Christie’s virtual abandonment of the state to run for president in 2014 and 2015. Adding to his woes was his seemingly lackey-like support for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

By mid-2017, as Christie’s second term as New Jersey’s governor was ending, his approval rating among the state’s voters had slipped to just 17%, according to a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University.

Christie has spent the last few years rebuilding his brand. He became a straight-talk commentator on television. And his presidential campaign was geared entirely to stopping Trump ― making him the only GOP candidate to take on the former president so clearly and earnestly.

That national strategy of trying to appeal to Republicans across America obviously didn’t work. But in New Jersey, where Republicans are far more moderate and hardly as enamored of Trump as in other parts of America, Christie’s political conversion to the role of Trump critic could be a plus in a Senate campaign.

As a Republican in the Senate, some party strategists say, Christie could position himself as an independent voice against the progressive bent of Democrats and the increasingly right-wing tilt of Republicans. After that, there is always the 2028 presidential election.

What does Christie want to do next?

The real question here is Christie. What exactly does he want next?

Perhaps more significantly, where does he now put all of that rhetorical passion that he brought to his ill-fated presidential campaign?

He is clearly a political figure with something to say. Only now, after dropping out of the presidential race, he has no soap box.

Certainly, if Christie jumped into the Senate race, he would also have to find a way to redeem some measure of respect — perhaps even ask forgiveness — among New Jersey residents for his last years as governor. But Republicans say Christie’s rhetorical skills and down-to-earth persona — especially evident in small, town hall gatherings — would come in handy if he decides to run.

Last spring, as reports surfaced in a variety of news stories about a growing federal investigation of Menendez, a prominent Republican leader said he approached one of Christie’s political advisers.

The account of this overture, described to me Thursday by this GOP leader, illustrates, on some level, the desire by Republicans to pull Christie back into New Jersey politics, where he had his greatest success and once seemed like a rising star. At the same time, it illustrates the pitfalls of a Christie resurgence — and how it would conjure up a difficult history.

It also offers a window into Christie himself — and his seemingly adamant rejection of any run for the Senate, even if the path were as open as it now seems.

“I was not a fan of Christie as a person,” said this leader, who asked that his name be withheld so as not to damage his relationship with the former governor. “I disagreed with how he handled Bridgegate. But I also know he could be our strongest Senate candidate.”

At the time, Christie’s advisers rejected any possibility of the former governor running for Senate against Menendez. In fact, only a few weeks later, Christie declared he was running for president — with a focus on Trump.

But now it’s mid-January. He won’t be President Christie — not this year anyway.

But Senator Christie?

The door seems open — if Christie wants to walk through it.

Mike Kelly is an award-winning columnist for NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, as well as the author of three critically acclaimed nonfiction books and a podcast and documentary film producer. To get unlimited access to his insightful thoughts on how we live life in the Northeast, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kellym@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Chris Christie drops out: Why he should run for US Senate instead