Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASHINGTON (AP) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he came to Washington to support a friend _ and ended up meeting some new ones.
Christie visited the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to attend events for New Jersey Sen. Jeff Chiesa, whom Christie appointed. That included a meeting Christie arranged with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other members of Senate GOP leadership.
Chiesa's term ends after an Oct. 16 special election. He was appointed to replace the late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
Christie says he doesn't think "it's ever good to keep government closed when your job is to run the government." But he says he isn't in Washington to offer advice.
Christie says he's focused on his re-election campaign.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
