A super PAC committed to ending Chris Christie’s presidential campaign is calling it quits, claiming the New Jersey governor has done much of their work for them.
Former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., created the “Stop Chris Christie” PAC last November. Tancredo reportedly said at the time that the group’s purpose was to defeat Christie’s campaign since the governor is “no true conservative.”
But in a recent statement posted to the group’s Facebook page, treasurer Tom Bjorklund said the group had notified the Federal Election Commission that it would be shutting down the PAC by Sept. 25 due to the “miserable showing of the candidate in question.”
“Our committee believes that Mr. Christie has already performed the service of stopping his campaign in spirit, (without or aid) even if not by the letter of the law,” Bjorklund wrote to Laura Sinram, a senior campaign finance analyst at the FEC.
Bjorklund’s letter to Sinram was in response to a notification issued by the FEC in July that the group was in violation of federal election rules for using Christie’s name without procuring his permission. Two other outside groups associated with Republican hopefuls Carly Fiorina and Donald Trump have also been flagged by the FEC recently for using the candidates’ names without their approval.
“Stop Chris Christie”‘s website has already been shut down and Bjorklund says they will spend the next couple weeks communicating with vendors and obtaining closing invoices from individuals who assisted with the committee’s formation.
According to FEC records, the anti-Christie PAC had only raised $1,350 by the mid-year filing deadline with a total operating expenditure of $8.74.
Christie’s popularity has plummeted in his home state where voters have grown increasingly frustrated, claiming that he is prioritizing his presidential run over his responsibilities as governor. The two-term governor barely made it into the first Republican primary debate and, although he is set to take the stage again for the second debate on Sept. 19, recent polls in early primary states place him in the bottom half of the GOP field.
Polling data from RealClearPolitics currently shows Christie averaging 5.3 percent support among Republican primary voters in New Hampshire and just 2 percent in Iowa.
A spokesperson for Christie’s camp told the Washington Examiner that the PAC’s closure is simply an attempt to dodge an investigation by the FEC.
