Gov. Chris Christie makes pragmatic pitch to GOP voters

SANDOWN, N.H. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is making a pragmatic pitch to voters as he begins his uphill fight for the Republican presidential nomination.

Christie brings a record of Republican electoral success in a Democratic state to the contest, underpinning his claim that he could lead effectively across party lines as president.

In the years since, he won re-election with ease, but also struggled to revive New Jersey's moribund economy and fought with the state's Democratic-controlled legislature over pensions and the state budget.

While Christie's turn as head of the Republican Governors Association was widely viewed as a success in the 2014 midterm elections, he's also faced the fallout from the case against three former aides, charged with creating politically motivated traffic jams at a bridge to retaliate against a Democratic mayor who declined to endorse Christie's re-election.

The governor faces a tough sell with many conservatives suspicious of an East Coast Republican who pushes compromise, but he has seemingly found his stride at times in visits to early voting states with the lively town hall meetings he's known for at home.