Gov. Charlie Baker, a moderate New England Republican who has resisted overtures to get involved in the rowdy GOP primary for president, will on Friday endorse New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Baker’s decision, first reported on Thursday by the Boston Globe, will come just four days before the New Hampshire primary where Christie, a blunt-talking Republican governor from a blue state, faces long odds even in a field that has winnowed since the Iowa caucuses.
Christie was running sixth in a CNN/WMUR poll released Thursday with 4 percent of the vote, while a UMass Lowell/7News tracking poll had the governor in the same position with 5 percent support.
The political ties between Baker and Christie run deep after the New Jersey governor, who has also had to deal with a legislature controlled by Democrats, came to Massachusetts in 2010 to campaign for Baker in his unsuccessful race against incumbent governor Deval Patrick.
Four years later, a Christie-led Republican Governors Association funneled more than $11 million into Baker’s tight gubernatorial contest against then Attorney General Martha Coakley. Baker and former Gov. Mitt Romney in 2014 headlined an RGA fundraiser in Boston for Christie.
Christie came to Boston last January to attend Baker’s inauguration at the State House. Both Christie and Baker attended Bruce Springsteen’s concert at the TD Garden in Boston Thursday night, though an aide said he was unsure whether the two men saw each other. Baker went to the show with First Lady Lauren Baker and personal friends of the couple.
Baker, who has a Cabinet meeting scheduled in Boston on Friday morning, will attend a rally with Christie in New Hampshire over the weekend, according to the Globe and CNN, and is also willing to make television appearances on his behalf.
Aides and advisors close to Baker would not confirm, but did not deny the governor’s intention to endorse Christie.
On the afternoon of Monday’s Iowa caucuses, Baker was asked whether he might campaign in New Hampshire before the primary there. “I don’t have any plans at this point to go there, no. I’m pretty focused at what I’m doing around here,” Baker said, echoing an oft-repeated mantra that he has little interest in turning his sight away from Massachusetts to engage in national politics.
Despite that resistance, however, Baker has at times been moved to comment on the presidential race, most memorably when he reacted to comments made by New York businessman Donald Trump about blocking Muslims from entering the country.
Shown a copy of Trump’s statement, Baker said: “I can’t believe that I’m reading this, which is basically directly in contrast and in conflict with most of the most important values that people in this country hold most dear, among them the right and the ability to practice your religion peacefully. Yeah, I think this is a really bad idea.”
In embracing Christie, Baker could be seen as not only showing loyalty to a political ally, but choosing one of the more moderate options from a field of Republican contenders where Trump and the conservative Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are leading national polls. Baker’s soaring popularity in Massachusetts has also made him a coveted commodity with his endorsement sought after by more than one presidential campaign, advisors have acknowledged.
The diffuse nature of the Republican contest has also divided elected Republicans in Massachusetts, who four years ago stood united behind former Gov. Mitt Romney. While Trump remains an unpopular figure among elected Republicans and party leaders in Massachusetts, candidates like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Jeb Bush, as well as Carly Fiorina and even Cruz have all picked up endorsements.
Baker and Christie’s relationship drew negative attention during the 2014 campaign when questions were raised about a $10,000 donation Baker made to the New Jersey Republican State Committee. Seven months later, a Christie-controlled pension fund made a $25 million investment with General Catalyst in Cambridge, a venture capital fund where Baker was working as an executive in-residence.
A New Jersey investigation later cleared Baker of any wrongdoing, finding that the play-to-play rules were not broken because Baker was not an investment professional at Catalyst, but rather a consultant.
Massachusetts residents will have their chance to vote on March 1 in the “Super Tuesday” primary when ballots in 12 states from Alabama and Texas to Vermont and Minnesota will be cast.