The past few weeks have been the best of Chris Christie’s campaign. He’s bagged important endorsements, gained ground in New Hampshire and his once-moribund campaign is suddenly getting a second look.
His investment in New Hampshire, the state that’s pivotal to his chances of winning the nomination, finally seems to be paying off: Powered by his poll numbers there, Christie returned to the main stage of the Republican presidential debate on Tuesday where his forceful performance quickly started trending on Twitter.
But there’s one glaring problem: Christie has almost no campaign infrastructure beyond the first-in-the-nation primary state.
Most of the campaign’s time and resources have been devoted to New Hampshire, with Iowa a distant second. The third state on the primary calendar, South Carolina, trails far behind, whether measured in terms of staffing or time spent there.
As of last week, Christie had visited New Hampshire 50 times, held 36 town halls there and more than 112 events in total. In Iowa, a town hall in Mason City last week was his 11th in 22 days of campaigning. On Saturday, he begins a three-day swing through New Hampshire where the governor will have eight more meet-and-greets and town halls.
By comparison, Christie has spent a total of just six days in South Carolina.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member