NEW YORK

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie entered the 2024 US presidential race Tuesday when he filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.

Christie will launch his campaign later Tuesday in the state of New Hampshire.

It will be the second campaign of Christie for the White House.

He lost the Republican nomination to former President Donald Trump in 2016 and became a close ally of Trump until the former president refused to accept the results of the 2020 election.

He will face a crowded field that already includes Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Senator Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and millionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Trump is favored in most national polls, followed by DeSantis.

DeSantis is viewed as Trump’s strongest Republican challenger.

On the Democratic front, President Joe Biden is running for reelection and is being challenged by best-selling self-help author Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy.