Poll: Christie Trails Bush by 10 Points
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie arrives at an event in Nashua, N.H., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014 at which he campaigned with Republican gubernatorial hopeful Walt Havenstein. Christie has been crisscrossing the country to bolster fellow Republicans as chair of the Republicans Governors Association, with a schedule that also has included key states on the presidential nomination calendar as he considers a run in 2016. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
If he’s running for president in 2016, Chris Christie will have to play catch-up. Jeb Bush’s “exploration” of entering the presidential campaign has put him 10 points ahead of the New Jersey governor in a new poll.
Bush was the pick of 23% of Republicans surveyed in the nationwide poll, 10 points ahead Christie. Physician Ben Carson is third at 7%, followed by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Christie, who had a 9% showing in November, gave mixed signals earlier this month about entering the presidential race, or when he would enter it.
“I’ve made no mystery of the fact that I’m thinking about running for president, but I’ve also made no mystery of the fact that I’m not going to make any decision until well into next year,” he said (earlier this month).
On the bright side: The same poll showed Christie with just 9 percent support in November.
