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Christie drops presidential race after N.H. primary

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday after a sixth-place finish at the New Hampshire primary with 7.4% of the vote, according to Time Magazine.

Christie is an ex officio member of the University's Board of Trustees.

Christie had over 100 endorsements from New Hampshire state legislators and the Union Leader, a newspaper for Republicans in state politics. Despite his efforts to become a front-runner in the primary, he placed behind Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

In both the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucus, which was held on Feb. 1, Christie received no delegate votes.

Christie had told supporters late Tuesday night after the poll results were released that he will return to New Jersey to reevaluate his candidacy, according to the New York Times. He officially suspended his campaign late Wednesday afternoon and posted a farewell message on his Facebook page.

"I ran for president with the message that the government needs to once again work for the people, not the people work for the government...that message was heard by and stood for by a lot of people, but just not enough and that’s ok," Christie wrote.

Samantha Smith, the Director of Communications on Christie's campaign, could not be reached for comment.

Former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina also dropped out of the Republican race after coming behind Christie and only receiving 4.2 percent of the vote.

“Carly Fiorina and Governor Chris Christie may be dropping out of the presidential race, but their overheated rhetoric and support for failed economic policies live on in the Republican Party’s divisive and out-of-touch primary,” Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, wrote in a statement.

Republican Businessman Donald Trump and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democrat, took victories at the New Hampshire primary, capturing 35.3 percent and 60.4 percent, respectively, of the electoral votes.

During the Republican debate just three days before the New Hampshire primary, Christie derisively attacked his forerunner Rubio, questioning his credibility as a presidential candidate and calling him robotic.

“He simply does not have the experience to be the President of the United States,” Christie argued.

Rubio countered that under Christie's record as governor of New Jersey, the credit rating was downgraded nine times, to which Christie argued that Rubio was never held accountable for running an entire state.

In response to Christie's repeated accusation, Rubio delivered the following line three times in the debate: that President Obama is not unprepared and that he knows exactly what he is doing. Christie scolded Rubio, arguing that he was merely running his campaign with lofty ideals and a memorized 25-second speech.

"A leader must fight for what they believe in, you can't just say, this won't work, I'm going to run," Christie said.

Christie’s attack proved damaging, as Rubio, who had been rising in the polls before the debate, collected only 10.6 percent of the vote, coming in fifth of the Republican candidates, according to The New York Times.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz ’92 collected 11.7 percent of the votes, and finished in third among Republican candidates while Florida Governor Jeb Bush garnered 11.1 percent of the vote.

This puts Cruz in second-place overall in the Republican standings, with Trump leading in first-place.

Cruz was criticized during the Republican debate for allowing his campaign to send out a voicemail saying that Ben Carson would pull out of the election after the Iowa caucus.

“Inform any Carson caucus-goers of this news and urge them to caucus for Ted instead,” the voicemail said.

Cruz argued that his campaign had made that assumption from a CNN live broadcast, but this was later debunked. Carson did not directly respond, but instead asked debate-watchers to come to their own conclusions about Cruz's character.

Trump also criticized Cruz for avoiding the question when he did not answer a question regarding a statement that Trump did not have the temperament of a leader.

Neither Christie’s nor Cruz’s campaigns responded to requests for comment.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who clinched a narrow victory at the Iowa caucuses, lost in collecting 38 percent to Sanders’ 60.4 percent, according to the Associated Press.

“I wish tonight had gone differently,” Clinton wrote in a fundraising email.

The results of the primary have revealed a female generational divide for Clinton. According to the poll results, 79% of women under age 30 voted for Sanders and 20% voted for Clinton.

"But I know what it's like to be knocked down - and I've learned from long experience that it's not whether you get knocked down that matters. It's about whether you get back up."

The South Carolina Republican primary and Nevada caucus, both beginning Feb. 20, are the next two major primaries to take place.

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