OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will remain off the ballot in the Super Tuesday primary state of Maine after state officials previously determined he didn’t qualify.
According to CBS News, Christie’s campaign failed to get the GOP contender back on the ballot after the Maine Secretary of State’s office declared earlier this month that he did not garner the required number of signatures from state voters to be placed on the ballot.
The campaign appealed the decision, but a Maine Superior Court judge sided with the Secretary of State’s office and agreed with their handling of the issue.
“We appreciate that the court upheld the integrity of Maine’s well-established ballot access requirements,” Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in a statement. “Every candidate, including presidential candidates, must follow the law to qualify for the ballot. We are glad that the court recognized that Maine law is workable and fair to all.”
Earlier in December, Maine Director of Elections Heidi M. Peckham informed Christie’s campaign via letter that it had only submitted 844 of the required minimum of 2,000 certified signatures that were needed in order for him to be put on the ballot.
At the time, a Christie spokesperson responded that his campaign had actually gathered 6,000 signatures and argued further that it was “simply a procedural issue with the way they reviewed signatures and is under appeal.”
But a state court disagreed.
In a statement to CBS News Thursday after the ruling, a spokesperson for the former governor’s campaign said, “We disagree with the court’s decision, and we are evaluating our options.”
Maine Superior Court Justice Julia M. Lipez ruled that 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.”
Christie can still file to become a write-in candidate. He has until Dec. 26 to do so.
The former governor has been the most critical of former President Donald Trump, by far the leading contender for the 2024 GOP nomination. As such, he has become a frequent target for conservatives who are sold on Trump’s America First agenda.
Earlier this month, former Fox News star and top-rated SiriusXM podcaster Megyn Kelly made a stark admission after the most recent 2024 GOP presidential debate, which she co-moderated, revealing that she “prayed” Christie would qualify for it so she could ask him a key question on stage.
The podcaster said she had “prayed to God and all of the angels above” for a chance to ask Christie about his stance on allowing permanent medical and surgical interventions for minor children who are supposedly gender confused.
“You do not favor a ban on trans medical treatments for minors, saying it’s a parental rights issue,” Kelly began, setting up her question at the NewsNation-hosted event.
“The surgeries done on minors involve cutting off body parts at a time when these kids cannot even legally smoke a cigarette. Kids who go from puberty blockers to cross-sex hormones are at a much greater likelihood of winding up sterile,” she added.
“How is it that you think a parent should be able to OK these surgeries — never mind the sterilization of a child — and aren’t you way too out of step on this issue to be the Republican nominee?” she asked.
“No, I’m not, because Republicans believe in less government, not more, and less involvement with government, not more involvement in people’s lives,” Christie began.
“And you know what, Megyn? I trust parents,” Christie, a former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, continued.
“And we’re out there saying that we should empower parents in education, we should empower parents to make more decisions about where their kids go to school — I agree,” Christie said.
“We should empower parents to be teaching the values that they believe in in their homes without the government telling them what those values should be,” he noted further, adding that his position comes “as a father of four” children.
Christie then said that “every once in a while, parents are going to make decisions that we disagree with” but then said, “The minute you start to take those rights away from parents, you don’t know that slippery slope, what rights are going to be taken away next.”
His position was immediately attacked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who intimated that even parents should not be allowed to permanently mutate their minor kids. “As a parent, you do not have the right to abuse your kids!” he said to wild applause.
As a parent, you do not have the right to abuse your kids. pic.twitter.com/HgJ4qhTJp2
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 7, 2023
