Never Trumper GOP presidential contender Chris Christie recently failed to secure enough signatures from voters in Maine and will not appear in the state’s presidential primary ballot.
Chris Christie lacks enough signatures to get on Maine 2024 ballothttps://t.co/MQOcSUl1rp
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) December 22, 2023
The Bangor Daily News reported that Christie had been notified by the Maine Secretary of State’s Office that he had failed to garner enough certified signatures from voters in The Pine Tree State to qualify for the state’s Republican primary ballot.
Christie has appealed Maine’s decision in court after being dealt a blow in the Super Tuesday state. The GOP presidential contender’s pleas were struck down by Maine Superior Court Justice Julia M. Lipez.
In a statement, Lipez said Christie “did not separate petition forms by town, as instructed by the Secretary, or, in the alternative, give himself sufficient time to bring those multi-town signature sheets to the relevant municipalities before the November 20 deadline.”
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said that her office was grateful “the court upheld the integrity of Maine’s well-established ballot access requirements.”
“Every candidate, including presidential candidates, must follow the law to qualify for the ballot,” Bellows said in a statement. “We are glad that the court recognized that Maine law is workable and fair to all.”
Christie only reported less than half the required number of certified signatures to appear in Maine’s GOP primary ballot.
Christie’s campaign strategy has been to win the New Hampshire primary, but his hopes of doing so have been greatly diminished by his failure to garner enough support from GOP voters. The Republican presidential contender tried to win The Granite State in 2016 but was defeated by then-presidential candidates Donald Trump, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, and Marco Rubio.
Christie’s campaign expressed disappointment with the Maine court’s decision and pointed out that they were assessing their options. Christie can still file as a write-in candidate in The Pine Tree State but must do so before Dec. 25, 2023.
Unlike Christie, former President Donald Trump, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), and pastor Ryan Binkley are set to appear on Maine’s ballot, scheduled for March 5, 2024.
