Christie finishes near bottom of Iowa caucuses

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In the months leading up to Monday’s night’s Iowa caucuses, Gov. Chris Christie had not polled particularly well in the evangelical Christian-heavy state.But Christie’s performance Monday fell short of even the most modest expectations as he garnered just roughly 1.8 percent of the statewide vote, good for 10^th place overall.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) won the contest, finishing with over 27 percent of the vote. Businessman Donald Trump placed second with 24 percent and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was not far behind in third place with 23 percent.

Christie finished only ahead of former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa), winner of the 2012 Iowa caucuses, and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, a virtual unknown candidate in the current election cycle.

In a Monday morning appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Christie said that early polling had indicated to him that while he would not emerge victorious in the Hawkeye State, he would “outperform” and at least place ahead of the other current and former governors in the race.

“Fact is, what I’ve wanted all along is to come out of Iowa as the number one governor,” Christie told GMA. “Polls show that I will be the number one governor.”

But aside from Gilmore, Christie failed to finish ahead of any other governor.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who like Christie, also managed to claim just 1.8 percent support, announced the suspension of his campaign shortly after the results trickled in.

But Christie remains focused on New Hampshire, where his campaign has largely focused its efforts over the last several months.

A recent CNN/WMUR poll in the state has Christie in range for fifth place there with 8 percent support. Trump leads that poll with roughly 30 percent support.

New Hampshire will hold its primary on Feb. 9.