NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has remained especially close to his high school friends.
He launched his campaign for president in his old high school gymnasium, checks in by phone and attends reunions. But he’s also made a habit of selecting old classmates for plum state positions, judgeships among them.
An Associated Press review of his senior class yearbook, state payroll records, agency websites and state press releases found that nearly a half dozen of Christie’s former high school classmates have ended up in state positions since he took office. That number increases at least to a dozen if Christie’s classmates from Seton Hall law school are counted.
The hires include a name that haunts Christie. David Wildstein is a former ally and top staffer at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He pleaded guilty to orchestrating the traffic jam scandal that has tarnished the governor’s reputation. Christie has said the two barely knew each other at Livingston, although Wildstein was the statistician on the school’s baseball team – Christie played catcher – and the two volunteered together on Tom Kean’s campaign for governor.
The pattern also provides insight into how Christie, known for his fierce loyalty to his staffers, might approach hiring if wins his longshot bid for the Republican nomination and makes it to the White House.