Chris Chrstie

New Jersey Right to Life Executive Director Marie Tasy is taking a wait and see approach on Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie’s running mate.

Although Christie has said that he converted to a pro-life viewpoint in the 1990s, both the women most talked about as his candidate for lieutenant governor – Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan and state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) – are pro-choice.  

Tasy, however, said that she will withhold judgment until a pick is made, and would not say whether her group would withhold an endorsement from Christie if he picked a pro-choicer. 

The last sitting U.S. Attorney to win election as Governor of New Jersey was Garret Wall in 1828. He declined to serve.: U.S. Senate PhotoChris Christie is not the only federal prosecutor with an eye on higher office. But if he decides to run for governor, he'll need to figure out the optimum timing of his formal announcement.

One man who can understand Christie's position is 88-year-old Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. Back in 1962, just one year after John F. Kennedy named him U.S. Attorney for New York's southern district, Morgenthau resigned to make a gubernatorial bid against incumbent Nelson D. Rockefeller at the urging of the New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr.

Morgenthau lost, 53%-44%. Partly, he said, because he entered the race too late. As U.S. Attorney, it would have been inappropriate for him to meet with officials or campaign donors to shore up support for a run, he said.