Chris Christie Splits the Baby

Chris Christie had a conundrum.

With the death of Frank Lautenberg, this leaves a vacancy that needs to be filled.

This was a problem for governor Chris Christie.

First, there are two conflicting statutes as to whether the governor appoints a replacement until the next election, or whether a special election is held.

Second, if he makes an appointment, Republicans will demand that he appoint someone with a Ted Cruze/Michelle Bachmann level of the crazy, which might interfere with his reelection bid this November.

Third, if he holds a special election at the same time as the gubernatorial election, it brings out more Democrats to votes, which would hurt his chances, though he already pretty much a shoe in.

So, his solution was to called a special election in October:

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) called for a special election to replace the late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg to be held on Oct. 16. A primary will take place on Aug. 13. Christie will appoint an interim replacement to serve in Lautenberg’s Senate seat until the election is concluded. Though he did not reveal whom he plans to choose, his deft handling of the situation has already allowed Christie to sidestep several potentially sticky situations and may have created an obstacle for one of his top rivals.

Prior to his announcement, Christie was seen as having multiple options for scheduling the Senate election. One statute was reportedly cited by Jersey Republicans as giving Christie power to appoint a replacement who would serve the remainder of Lautenberg’s original term, which ends in 2014. Christie said he did indeed have this power, but wanted to do the “right thing” and let the people of the Garden State pick their representatives in the Senate.

………

Christie’s decision also allows the governor to sidestep a series of problems the vacancy in Lautenberg’s seat presented to his current re-election bid and rumored national ambitions.

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While other similar attacks are likely to come down the road, Christie’s masterstroke of election scheduling comes with a potent, built-in defense that he is simply standing up for the needs of the voters.

While it would seem having a handpicked senator as long as possible could be advantageous to Christie, making an appointment who serves for the absolute minimal amount of time came with a third side benefit for the governor. Christie has turned himself into a highly touted potential 2016 presidential contender based in no small part on his image as a GOP governor who isn’t afraid to make compromises with the other party. If he made a pick that would serve for a substantial amount of time and they were seen as insufficiently conservative it could damage Christie’s standing with Republicans nationally, while an unequivocally conservative pick could hurt Christie’s bipartisan branding. Allowing his choice to serve for only a few months will almost assuredly burnish Christie’s magnanimous reputation while also decreasing the spotlight on the appointment — and the chance it could reflect negatively on him.

Well played, Christopher, well played.