MANCHESTER, N.H. — On the eve of the first-in-the-nation primary, at Chris Christie’s final town hall before Granite State voters cast their ballots, the only one thing certain was voters’ uncertainty.
“I know it’s going to be one of the governors, I just don’t know who,” Nancy Catano, a single mother of four, admitted minutes before the New Jersey governor took the stage.
Monday was the first and last time the high school teacher, whose busy schedule has kept her from meet-and-greets and town halls, would hear from Christie before she casts her ballot on Tuesday. “I just needed to see him in person because I find that the town halls are such a wonderful opportunity to hear [candidates] talk from the heart.”
Inside the multipurpose room of a local Greek Orthodox church, Catano wasn’t alone. Conversations with more than a half-dozen voters at the governor’s last town hall revealed that many Granite Staters still harbor concerns, or have outstanding questions about candidates they’d like to support but who have yet to seal the deal.
“I’m between the governors – or between [Jeb] Bush, Christie and Carly [Fiorina],” said Greg Denon. “Ask me in five minutes, I’ll say one person. Ask me five minutes later, I’ll say another.”
Denon watched Christie fiercely attack Marco Rubio, a freshman senator from Florida, over his lack of accomplishments and pre-packaged answers during the seventh GOP debate Saturday. He said he appreciated Christie’s cross examination, but hoped to “see a little bit more of [his] compassionate side” Monday night.
“For me, it’s not so much policy as the character behind those policies,” Denon responded when asked to describe what it is that will convince him to vote for Christie, Bush or Fiorina between now and 7 o’clock on Tuesday.
Catano, who is also deciding between “the governors,” intends to do additional research tonight on how the three candidates she’s considering plan to address the burgeoning student debt crisis. She hopes that power of prayer might guide her towards a final decision.
Another undecided voter, whose wife had written Christie off before deciding to reconsider him after his debate performance Saturday, plans to use a more unconventional method to determine which candidate he’ll support.
“My decision will come tomorrow morning when my wife tells me who to vote for,” he said, half-jokingly. The problem is, his wife is undecided too.
“We’ve had a lot of fights about it,” she said. “Sometimes I think they’re all electable, sometimes I think none of them are electable.”
Throughout Christie’s closing pitch Monday night, the uncertainty among New Hampshire Republicans repeatedly surfaced. Nearly half of the individuals who were given an opportunity to ask the governor a question prefaced their inquiry with one sentence: “I’m an undecided voter.”
“I heard there’s a ton of people still undecided in here,” Christie said Monday, shortly after he was introduced by Buddy Valastro, New Jersey’s famous “Cake Boss.”
He continued, “What’s it like here on Christmas Eve? Are the stores jammed because everybody’s got to decide what gift they have to buy?”
The comment drew heavy laughter from several members of the audience, who, for a moment, seemed amused by their own indecisiveness.
“I started out thinking I was going to vote for [Donald] Trump,” Catano said with a chuckle. “I’m just glad I’ve narrowed it down this far.”
