BridgeGate
Right now New Jersey politics is being consumed by the Chris Christie “Bridgegate Scandal.” There is a lot being said about the bridge scandal, so what exactly happened? Towards the end of the Governor’s re-election in September of last year three lanes connecting Fort Lee to the George Washington tunnel were shut down due to a traffic study. Since Chris Christie was up for re-election he wanted support from Democrats like the Mayor of Fort Lee, see where this is going? The Mayor of Fort Lee Mark Sokolich didn’t want to support Christie, so Christie wanted to payback the Mayor by having hours of traffic back up into his town. Christie is saying he had no knowledge of the lanes closing and put a public apology to Mayor Mark Sokolich, which Sokolich accepted. The person being held responsible for not telling Christie about the lanes closing is Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly. Kelly was fired because she sent an email to Port Authority official David Wildstein which says “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” These email were sent that the bridge would be closed in early September, While Christie was being is being investigated for withholding Sandy funds and giving jobs to people who supported him.  What does this mean for Christie in 2016? Some Republicans are saying his name will be off the ballot because of this scandal. Christie’s approval rating has gone down by 19 points in a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. This is the lowest approval rating Christie has since he has taken office. Will this come back to haunt him?