Unfortunately for him, he has a Wall Street problem he never expected.
It's not the same Wall Street problem most candidates have — that they are a little too cozy with Wall Street.
Christie's problem is that even though the New Jersey governor is designed for Wall Street — he has moderate social views, he's from the Northeast, and his wife worked at hedge fund Angelo Gordon before leaving to join his campaign — super-deep-pocketed donors from Wall Street just aren't committing.
Not even the ones who have shown him support before.
The money's just not there
Sources within Christie's camp told Politico they expected the campaign to raise about $30 million by year's end. That pales in comparison with former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, who is believed to have raised about $100 million already through various campaign vehicles.
Closing that gap is a task for the people who have that kind of money: Wall Street's billionaires. Some who were once vocal supporters of Christie have decided to back one of the other 13 candidates in the GOP race or the other two likely candidates.
The most high profile of these defectors is Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets. He supported Christie for governor but will be supporting Bush for the presidency.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer threw a lunch for Christie last month, but he also threw one for Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who is expected to enter the field in late July. Singer has yet to declare his support for anyone. This from a donor who has given over $1 million to the Republican Governors Association (RGA), an organization that Christie once chaired and that was instrumental in helping Christie win his campaign in 2009.
(REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton) Jets owner Woody Johnson now supports Jeb Bush instead of Christie.
Christie's support base has been hollowed out by scandal.
First and foremost is Bridgegate. This spring, a former Christie ally pleaded guilty to closing lanes to the George Washington Bridge as punishment to the mayor of Fort Lee for refusing to back Christie for re-election as governor. Two former Christie aides were also indicted in connection to the scheme.
Bridgegate has contributed to dismal poll numbers both within and outside Christie's state — another reason supporters have defected. Christie's claims that he balanced New Jersey's budget while underfunding pensions have also been a contributing factor.
And some on Wall Street are turned off of Christie for the same reason others like him: his mouth. As governor he is known to tell people to "sit down and shut up." That doesn't sit well with more cool-headed, pragmatic Wall Streeters, Politico reported in November.
Now, thanks to Bridgegate, he will have to veer to the right on social issues such as abortion in order to widen his base of support.
There will always be loyalists
Of course, Christie still has some supporters in the billionaire set, the most vocal being Home Depot founder Ken Langone.
ken langone, anthony scaramucci, gary kaminsky, wall street week
(Wall Street Week) Ken Langone, center, with "Wall Street Week" hosts Anthony Scaramucci and Gary Kaminsky.
"The guy every day confirms in my mind why I think he'd make a great president," Langone said on television's "Wall Street Week." "He tells it like it is. Three weeks ago he talked about entitlements ... the third rail of politics. Now Jeb Bush is talking about entitlements."
Of course, later in that the same segment Langone said he would vote for Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin "like that if he was nominated." Langone also said he was confident the party would coalesce under one candidate when the time came.
He also told National Journal he wouldn't write a large check for Christie's super PAC. He planned to raise money for Christie the old-fashioned Wall Street way: calling everyone who owes you a favor.
"Would I write a check for $10 million? No, no I wouldn't," Langone said. "But I do something better than that. I go out and get a lot people to write checks and get them to get people to write checks, and hopefully result in a helluva lot more than $10 million."
Both Langone and fellow billionaire Christie supporter Stanley Druckenmiller have made entitlements a central issue for them in the campaign. Both of these men have been incredibly successful on Wall Street, and there are people all over the industry who owe them their careers.
That means Langone and Druckenmiller are in a position to ask people to write checks.
Christie's problem, with such a crowded field and his popularity on the decline, is that those Wall Street checks will not add up to what his campaign had anticipated before Bridgegate.
If there's anything people can't stand in New York and New Jersey — places where Wall Streeters live, work, and commute — it's bad traffic.
