Gov. Baker Endorses Chris Christie For President

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is endorsing a fellow Northeast Republican in the presidential race.

Baker said Friday he's backing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The Massachusetts governor said in the GOP field of presidential candidates, Christie has proven he's the best at working with Democrats.

"We're big believers that the best way to govern is to work with people you don't agree with all the time, and to be able to find common ground and to pursue an agenda on behalf of the people we all serve," Baker said.

Baker expressed concern about Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, who finished first and second, respectively, in Monday's Iowa caucuses. He said the two are "not folks who've demonstrated an ability to collaborate, work across the aisle and to get stuff done in a public setting."

Asked whether he would support the Republican nominee even if Trump or Cruz were to emerge, Baker demurred.

The political ties between Baker and Christie run deep after the New Jersey governor, who has also had to deal with a legislature controlled by Democrats, came to Massachusetts in 2010 to campaign for Baker in his unsuccessful race against former Gov. Deval Patrick.

Four years later, a Christie-led Republican Governors Association funneled more than $11 million into Baker's tight gubernatorial contest against then Attorney General Martha Coakley. Baker and former Gov. Mitt Romney in 2014 headlined an RGA fundraiser in Boston for Christie.

Christie came to Boston last January to attend Baker's inauguration.

Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito will appear with Christie at a rally Saturday in Bedford, New Hampshire — just days before the primary.

In the final WBUR poll before the New Hampshire primary, released Friday afternoon, Christie polls at just 6 percent, good for seventh place in the Republican contest.

A handful of other Massachusetts politicians — Democrats all of them — have endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential race.

With reporting by the WBUR Newsroom and State House News Service.