Chris Christie is announcing his second presidential bid tonight in New Hampshire

Chris Christie’s starting again where it all ended for him last time.

The former New Jersey governor is launching his second presidential bid Tuesday night in a college auditorium in New Hampshire, where his primary ambitions were torched in 2016 when he finished sixth in the state.

Christie’s second bid is all about unleashing his tell-it-like-it-is Jersey toughness on former President Donald Trump and a growing field of Republicans who thus far have been tepid about engaging directly with the front-runner.

Political strategists and operatives here and in New Hampshire say that tactic may weaken Trump’s standing, particularly given that Christie, a former federal prosecutor, will likely go after Trump’s indictments. Christie’s expected offensive could prompt other candidates to also criticize the former president.

But gaining support of his own will be an uphill climb.

“Clearly he has a passion to destroy Trump,” said Dave Carney, a longtime GOP campaign consultant in New Hampshire. “It’ll be interesting to see if he’s just doing this to be in the limelight, to bash Trump, or if he actually has something to say. And is he gonna run a real campaign?”

Christie enters the race during a busy week. Former Vice President Mike Pence and Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota are set to announce their presidential campaigns this week, increasing the number of GOP candidates to nearly a dozen. In New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu on Monday ruled out a run.

A late May poll of declared and potential GOP candidates showed Christie polling at 0% nationally with the most unpopular approval rating of any candidate. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came the closest to Trump with 30% of national GOP support. Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott were at 3%, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, were at 1%.

Besides Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and Sununu registered at less than 1%, if at all.

National polls can gauge a candidate’s overall electability but are highly unreliable to predict primary contests.

Still, at the moment, DeSantis appears to be Trump’s most competitive challenger. A key question in coming months will be if any other candidate can break through as they blanket early voting states Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire.

“Obviously, Trump is the front-runner. He has supporters and people in the state and a firm 30-35% at this point,” Carney said. “But it’s still wide open.”

A key test for Christie will be whether he can qualify for August’s debate. The Republican National Committee last week announced criteria for the debates, which include securing at least 40,000 national contributors and polling consistently above 1% in three national polls taken after July 1.

To qualify for the stage, candidates also must commit to supporting the eventual Republican nominee.

It’s unclear how Christie would handle the pledge. He went from a Trump ally who consulted on Trump’s 2016 campaign to cutting off ties after the former president refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. Christie told Axios in March that he would never support Trump for president again — even if he wins the Republican nomination.

For a candidate who is already trumpeting his ability to debate, qualifying will be key. Christie is largely credited with tanking Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s early momentum in the GOP primary in 2016 by rattling him on the debate stage.

“I am definitely rooting for him … to get past the first hurdle, which is going to be inclusion in these debates,” said Fergus Cullen, a former New Hampshire GOP chair. “I think he’s got an important message, and he’s saying things in public that need to be said in public.”

Cullen, who is not committed in the primary but does not support Trump, went to an event DeSantis held in New Hampshire earlier this month and noted that over 90 minutes, DeSantis didn’t mention Trump’s name, let alone criticize him.

The last time Christie ran for president, he launched his campaign from his alma mater, Livingston High School, in New Jersey. The choice to debut in New Hampshire fits with the national approach his campaign has teased, more removed from his eight years leading New Jersey and all the political ups and downs of his governorship.

New Hampshire is a politically smart state to focus on because it has the first in the nation primary and the second overall contest. It’s also a place where Christie spent the great majority of his time in 2016, visiting more than most candidates and pulling in endorsements from the New Hampshire Union Leader, as well as from some major activists and elected officials in the state.

“He made every effort you could in New Hampshire last time around,” said Cullen, the former GOP New Hampshire chair. “It just didn’t work; he just couldn’t sell voters. It’s a real question: What makes you think it’s gonna be different this time around?”