New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has hired Samantha Smith, a senior manager for global communications and public affairs for Google in Washington, D.C., as communications director for his political committee, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
Smith has previously worked as press secretary for Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and for John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. In a 2013 interview with National Journal, which named Smith one of “the 25 most influential Washington women under 35,” she said that “working for a losing campaign was the best thing that ever happened to me.” Smith’s father is FedEx founder and CEO Fred Smith, a prominent Republican donor.
She will join Christie’s campaign at a pivotal moment in the Republican “invisible primary,” with the governor coming off weeks of discouraging press and public missteps. Christie’s campaign-in-waiting has been further undermined by the strength of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who have been winning donors and supporters at a fast clip in Christie’s political space.
Christie will look to regain his political footing this week with a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington, D.C., an important venue to test his standing among the conservative base.
But he faces an unpredictable landscape at home, with New Jersey on fragile budgetary footing. On Tuesday, Christie announced a plan to freeze state pensions to try to cut costs.
