The 2024 presidential race is already delivering some unexpected curveballs. And no, I’m not talking about Kanye West throwing his hat in the ring again. This time, it involves former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who finds himself in a bit of a pickle in Maine. The Pine Tree State’s highest court has ruled that Christie won’t be appearing on the 2024 ballot. Why? It seems he didn’t gather enough certified signatures from registered voters. Now, I don’t know about you, but last time I checked, getting signatures was a pretty crucial part of running for office.
But let’s rewind a bit. The whole fiasco started when Maine’s Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, claimed that Christie’s campaign only turned in 844 signatures. That’s a far cry from the required 2,000. Christie’s camp appealed, but alas, the court upheld Bellows’ decision.
Now, let’s get one thing straight. Gathering signatures isn’t a walk in the park. It’s a long, grueling process involving collecting raw signatures from voters, getting them certified at local city or town halls, and then delivering them to the Secretary of State. But hey, no one ever said politics was easy.
So, what now for Christie? Well, he could still register as a write-in candidate by December 26th. But with falling numbers and calls to drop out and consolidate the anti-Trump vote behind Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis, things aren’t looking rosy.
Speaking of Haley and DeSantis, they’ve managed to qualify for the Maine ballot, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, local pastor Ryan Binkley, and a familiar face – former President Donald Trump. As for Christie, he’s promised to withdraw from the race if he doesn’t make a strong showing in New Hampshire, the second state to vote in the Republican primary season.
But here’s the kicker: Trump holds 44.6% of primary support in New Hampshire and 45% in Maine. So, it seems like the anti-Trump Republicans have a mountain to climb. And with New Hampshire’s popular Republican Governor Chris Sununu endorsing Haley, Christie’s chances are looking slimmer by the minute.