Bloomfield Woman Tapped To Join Christie's Presidential Campaign Team

Governor Chris Christie has recruited Bloomfield resident Candace Straight, a movie producer and investment banking consultant, to help with his 2016 presidential campaign.

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Christie recently announced that Straight was part of his New Jersey Finance Leadership Team, reported Essex News Daily.

“It’s going to be a hotly contested race,” Straight told Essex News Daily. “That’s good for the public. I think Chris will present himself well and he has a shot.”

Straight has over 40 years of experience in the financial industry, and has worked on both Christie’s treasury transition team and Gov. Christie Todd Whitman’s budget advisory committee. She previously served on the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority from 1994 to 2003 and she served as a trustee for the state public employees retirement system from 1982 to 1988. Straight also served as a trustee at her alma mater, Wilson College in Pennsylvania.

Straight grew up in Bloomfield and graduated from the township’s high school. She became interested in public service and politics while helping out her grandparents, Francis and Dorothea Jewkes, who served on the Bloomfield township council in the 1950s and 1960s, respectively.

“When (Dwight) Eisenhower was running for president, my grandfather was running for council. I remember going door-to-door, handing out fliers and asking people to vote for Ike and my grandfather,” Straight told Patch in a 2011 interview. “That was my start in politics.”

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