Chris Christie
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| Chris Christie | ||
 | ||
| Governor of New Jersey | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| January 19, 2010 - Present | ||
| Years in position | 2 | |
| Party | Republican | |
| Personal | ||
| Birthday | September 6, 1962 | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
Contents |
Biography
Christie is a New Jersey native, having been born in Newark and growing up in Livingston. As an undergraduate, he studied political science before going on to law school. In 1987, the same year he graduated, he was admitted to the bar in New Jersey and for the U.S. District Court for New Jersey.
He joined Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci, becoming a partner in 1993. The following year, he was elected a Freeholder of Morris County. In 1995, he ran for New Jersey's General Assembly, losing the primary and then losing his re-election bid as a Freeholder after Republicans recruited a candidate to run against him.
In 1998, Christie registered a lobbyist with his law firm and spent the next several years lobbying the state government on various issues. In 2001, he was nominated to be the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, ultimately being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He served in that office from January 2002 until he began his gubernatorial campaign in 2009.
He has been married since 1986 to Mary Pat Christie, nee Foster, whom he met at the University of Delaware. They have four children and reside in Mendham, New Jersey.
Education
- JD, Seton Hall University School of Law, 1987
- BA, Political Science, University of Delaware, 1984
- Livingston High School, 1980
Political career
Governor of New Jersey (2010 - Present)
Christie was first elected Governor of New Jersey in 2009.
Controversies
Judicial pay
In June 2011 Gov. Chris Christie and state lawmakers worked to tackle the state's $112 billion unfunded liability for pension and health coverage. The reform increased the amount public workers pay. Specifically, judges are required to contribute 12 percent of their salary to the Judicial Retirement Fund. High earning judges are also required to contribute more to their healthcare plans. Earners of $95,000 or more a year will pay 17.5 percent of their premiums starting in July 1. The rate will increase to 35 percent in 2014.[1]
Following the changes, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale filed a lawsuit arguing the new requirements for increased contributions to pensions violated the state's constitutional provision that judges' compensation cannot be changed during a judge's tenure.[1] On October 17, Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg ruled that Christie's pensions and benefit reforms were "unconstitutional" for members of the judiciary. Feinberg ruled that requiring judges to pay more out of their paychecks amounted to a "diminution of salary." According to the state constitution, judicial salaries cannot be changed during their tenure.[1]
Days following the ruling Christie announced efforts for a constitutional amendment. The proposed measure would amend the New Jersey Constitution to define justices and judges’ salary as exclusively salary, not encompassing pension and benefit payments.[2] According to reports, Christie is expected to send language for the proposal to the New Jersey General Assembly by October 21, 2011.[2]
State employee compensation reform
Christie received significant criticism for his successful effort to reform state employee compensation during the summer of 2011. Ultimately, Christie and his supporters in the state legislature were able to pass a bill eliminating cost of living adjustments for state employees and suspending collective bargaining over health care compensation. 21 Democratic legislators -- 8 senators, including Senate President Stephen Sweeney and 14 assemblymen -- broke ranks with their colleagues to support the governor's reform bill.
The reaction from state union leaders, who strongly opposed reform efforts, was fierce. Christopher Shelton, an executive at the Communication Workers of America, compared Christie and his supporters to German fascists. According to Shelton, "the first thing the Nazis and Adolf Hitler did was go after the unions," adding "Welcome to Nazi Germany."[3] The reform bill's Democratic supporters also faced retaliation from their erstwhile union allies; at an August meeting of the AFL-CIO labor union, members voted not to endorse Sweeney and Sen. Donald Norcross in their 2012 re-election campaigns.
Issues
Presidential preference
2012
Chris Christie has endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. [4]
Recall effort
The first musings of an attempt to recall Christie came in 2010, when he had been in office less than six months. The group NJ Against Chris Christie announced plans to mount a recall campaign against the governor for “Gross mismanagement of New Jersey finances by overspending taxpayers’ money, threatening public safety by cutting funds to local governments, failing to account for the exorbitant cost of property taxes, and failing in general to deal with the state’s major problems until they get to the crisis stage.” However, the effort did not materialize.[5]
In 2011, Timothy O'Neill announced his organization, NJ-CAN, will seek to recall Christie either in late 2011 or early 2012. They will need to gather signatures from 25 percent of the registered voters in New Jersey, approximately 1,317,000, to force a recall election.[6]
During the summer of 2011 some Democrats, including state party chair and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, had considered a full recall effort against Christie.[7] The plan was reportedly dropped due to fears that if the effort failed it could strengthen the governor and Republicans.[8]
See also
External links
- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Official state site
- Chris Christie at Project Vote Smart
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 NJ.com,"Gov. Christie calls for constitutional amendment to cap judicial pay, benefits," October 18, 2011
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 NJ.com,"Christie's constitutional amendment on judges' pay gets no support from Senate and Assembly leaders," October 19, 2011
- ↑ NJ.com, "Union leader compares Gov. Christie to Hitler at pension reform protest," June 16, 2011.
- ↑ Fox News "Christie Endorses Romney Ahead of GOP Debate," October 11, 2011
- ↑ New Jersey Newsroom, "N.J. Gov. Chris Christie could face recall election in 2012," August 12, 2011
- ↑ Collingswood Patch, "Collingswood Resident Seeks to Recall Gov. Christie," August 19, 2011
- ↑ The Star-Ledger, "Democrats considered recalling Gov. Chris Christie," August 21, 2011
- ↑ Politico, "Report: Top Democrat eyed Christie recall," August 22, 2011
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