even as he brushed aside questions over mysterious lane closures on the george washington bridge , new jersey gov. chris christie ended his first term having won ground-breaking changes to public-employee pensions, accolades for his superstorm sandy response and a wide re-election margin. but soon after his reelection, news broke that a member of mr. christie<u+2019>s staff and two associates had allegedly orchestrated the lane closures to punish a democratic mayor. on friday, a federal jury found two of mr. christie<u+2019>s former allies guilty in the case. mr. christie was never charged with wrongdoing, but the scandal haunted his second term and cast a shadow on the blunt-spoken public persona he had used so effectively on the stump and in town hall meetings across new jersey. in september, a rutgers-eagleton poll found that 23% of respondents had a favorable view of mr. christie, down from a peak rating of 70% in february 2013. <u+201c>the impact of bridgegate on chris christie<u+2019>s career has been devastating,<u+201d> said ben dworkin director of the rebovich institute for new jersey politics at rider university. <u+201c>it was the thing that began his slow decline from where he was.<u+201d> mr. christie had served as the new jersey u.s. attorney before ousting democratic incumbent jon corzine from the governor<u+2019>s office in 2009. he swiftly attracted national attention during his first term by implementing a 2% property-tax cap and securing a landmark deal with the democratic-controlled legislature to rein in public pension benefits state sen. loretta weinberg, a democrat and one of the governor<u+2019>s biggest critics, said that some democrats had been discussing pension changes long before mr. christie came into office. she voted against the deal mr. christie reached with the legislature, but realizes now it was necessary. <u+201c>had we not passed it we would have been even worse off than we already are,<u+201d> ms. weinberg said. <u+201c>i think history will say it was a right step.<u+201d> mr. christie also toured the state extensively during his first term, holding town hall meetings to drum up support for his proposals, seeming to relish the verbal combat with some people in the audience. billionaire political fundraisers from new york started courting mr. christie and urged him to run for the 2012 republican presidential nomination. <u+201c>that can turn your head, if people are after you to run,<u+201d> said lawrence bathgate, a new jersey resident and former republican national finance chairman. <u+201c>he got high marks and got on a roll.<u+201d> mr. christie decided not to run for the white house in 2012. in november 2013, he won a second term with 60% of the vote and became a republican presidential contender. weeks later, the lane closure scandal broke. <u+201c>rather than building on momentum from a huge election victory, he was forced to go into hiding,<u+201d> mr. dworkin said. <u+201c>and then he really only emerged as a national candidate, and less as a second-term governor.<u+201d> mr. christie has spent much of his second term traveling outside of new jersey, first as chairman of the republican governors association and then as a gop candidate for the white house. mr. christie announced his candidacy in june 2015 with the slogan <u+201c>telling it like it is,<u+201d> but his reputation as a plain-spoken straight-shooter was overshadowed by the similar style of the eventual nominee, donald trump. the governor dropped out in february after placing sixth in the new hampshire primary and endorsed mr. trump. he was later tapped to head mr. trump<u+2019>s transition team. dale florio, a republican strategist and supporter of mr. christie, said the lane-closure trial shouldn<u+2019>t take away from the governor<u+2019>s accomplishments or preclude him from securing a spot in a trump administration, if the gop nominee wins tuesday<u+2019>s election. <u+201c>he<u+2019>s refreshing and that hasn<u+2019>t changed,<u+201d> mr. florio said, referring to mr. christie. <u+201c>you<u+2019>ve got two defendants and this is about them. everything else is really kind of a sideshow.<u+201d> but for one of mr. christie<u+2019>s earliest running mates, testimony delivered during the trial about the governor<u+2019>s short fuse didn<u+2019>t come as a surprise. thirty miles away from the newark courthouse, in the governor<u+2019>s hometown of mendham, borough administrator rick merkt said he believed mr. christie<u+2019>s tendency to pick fights helped tank their joint bid for the state general assembly in 1995. <u+201c>character doesn<u+2019>t really change,<u+201d> mr. merkt said. <u+201c>chris is dynamic. he<u+2019>s funny and he is intelligent. but i think those qualities are sometimes offset by his temper, and i would say also by his singular focus on advancing his own career.<u+201d> the men<u+2019>s bid for the state assembly failed partly because mr. christie announced his candidacy <u+201c>within days<u+201d> of winning a bitterly fought 1994 campaign for the morris county freeholders board. during the republican primary for that race, mr. christie ran advertisements that said two of his competitors were <u+201c>under investigation<u+201d> by the county prosecutor. mr. christie later settled a defamation suit brought by the politicians and issued a public apology. write to kate king at kate.king@wsj.com
<u+2018>bridgegate<u+2019> trial verdicts cap rugged few years for n.j. gov. chris christie  - wsj
kate king