By Heather Haddon and Josh Dawsey
NASHUA, N.H.--New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie traveled to New
Hampshire on Thursday, his second trip in two months to an early
presidential primary state that could play a key role in his
potential bid for the Republican nomination.
Mr. Christie has campaigned in the state a half-a-dozen times
since taking office in 2010, and made his early endorsement of GOP
presidential candidate Mitt Romney here in 2011. He has built a
network of contacts and now has two former aides working in the
Granite State in prominent Republican Party roles.
Ostensibly, the campaign stop was meant as a boost for Walt
Havenstein, a businessman running for governor whom Mr. Christie
wants to win the Republican primary and take on Democratic
incumbent Gov. Maggie Hassan. Mr. Christie is the chairman of the
Republican Governors Association and travels the country
campaigning for GOP candidates.
He appeared alongside Mr. Havenstein before an audience of about
100 workers at BAE Systems Inc., a defense contractor where Mr.
Havenstein was once an executive.
"I'm going to be up here often to help Walt as much as I
possibly can," Mr. Christie said during a short speech.
The events on Thursday also gave Mr. Christie a day in the
limelight in New Hampshire, where his potential rivals for the GOP
presidential nomination also have spent time. Sen. Rand Paul of
Kentucky, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
traveled here this year to make speeches, while Texas Gov. Rick
Perry is set to visit in the next few weeks.
Mr. Christie's trips, before the results of a competitive GOP
gubernatorial primary, have led some in New Hampshire to conclude
he is testing his appeal for a 2016 presidential bid.
"I expect he's going to know his way around the state," said Tom
Rath, a former Republican Party national committeeman for New
Hampshire. "These would be people who would be prime targets for
2016."
As a northeastern Republican with a big personality and a love
for retail politicking, Mr. Christie has drawn interest in a state
famous for demanding personal contact from candidates.
"You have to get out of the limousine and you have to go [to]
people's dining room tables and be able to take tough questions and
know the price of a gallon of milk," said Neil Levesque, executive
director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Political
Library at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. "We really test
candidates."
Polls show that the 2016 field is wide open in New
Hampshire.
A WMUR Granite State Poll in July found that 39% of likely
Republican primary voters would choose Mr. Romney if he ran again,
though he has said he won't. Mr. Christie and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan
of Wisconsin tied for second, each with 7% of the support.
Mr. Christie was the most polarizing of the candidates
polled--attractive to moderates but not conservatives, said Andrew
Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey
Center.
Mr. Christie has surrounded himself with aides who worked for
Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign, which focused on
winning New Hampshire and Florida early, with little attention paid
to more conservative states such as South Carolina. That strategy,
however, sputtered.
Mr. Christie's aides said it was premature to discuss a game
plan for the presidential nomination and played down any larger
motives for the New Hampshire visits.
Josh Dawsey contributed to this article.
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com
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