In 2011, a group of influential Iowa Republican “kingmakers” flew to New Jersey to urge Gov. Chris Christie to run for president. More than four years later, now-candidate Chris Christie received their endorsement in Des Moines on Tuesday.
“We encouraged him to run for President because we believed he had a bold leadership style, he had conviction and principle, and he would make a great President and so as we think about four years later in today’s cycle, all those same things hold even more true,” said Bruce Rastetter, a top GOP activist and self-made entrepreneur in the ethanol and pork industries.
Their backing was a reminder of how much has changed for Christie in recent years. When the Iowans flew to New Jersey, Christie was a rising star governor winning over right-leaning audiences by winning in a blue state with his blunt straight-talking style. Christie declined to run in 2012 and now that he’s in the 2016 race, he’s struggled to take off in a crowded primary field where Donald Trump has taken up much of the oxygen.
The group of six includes Rastetter as well as Denny Elwell, Gary Kirke, Dr. Mike Richards, Mikel Derby, and Jim Kersten. The seventh member of the group, Cam Sutton, now works for Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and cannot endorse a candidate.
The New Jersey governor said he was “overwhelmed” by the endorsement.
When the group traveled to New Jersey, Christie said, “I had been governor at that time for only about 17 months, and I was overwhelmed at the time by their faith and confidence in me. And I am no less overwhelmed today, in fact in some ways, even more so, because they’ve gotten to watch me now.”
The show of support comes at a time when Christie has struggled to break through in the polls — coming in at 3% in the most recent CNN/ORC national poll from Sept. 20. He had just 2% of support among Iowan Republicans in a Des Moines Register poll out Sept. 1.
Christie has not spent as much time in Iowa as many of his GOP competitors: According to the Des Moines Register’s candidate tracker, he has attended 29 events in Iowa over 16 days, placing him in 13th place among Republicans for total events.
Rastetter said he has encouraged Christie to spend more time in Iowa, the first-in-the-nation caucus state where those one-on-one interactions and building a grassroots organization are key to winning on Feb. 1.
“If he isn’t here, he’s not going to make an impact. He’s got four months to make a huge impact and it’s really early,” Rastetter told reporters.
Rastetter said Christie’s blunt, bold style is going to “play well in Iowa…but you’ve got to spend time here to do that.”
For his part, Christie said he’s “completely committed” to make the Hawkeye State a priority, even meeting with Gov. Terry Branstad on Tuesday morning.
“Iowa is an extraordinarily important state for us. We intend to be here and compete hard for every vote we can in the caucuses…It’s time to get to work,” he said.