Rand Paul remains at the top of The CHASE, but there’s a new number two heading into the fall.

His strong performance in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire combined with robust national polling elevates New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to #2 on The CHASE — Yellowhammer’s rolling monthly rankings of the most likely 2016 presidential nominee of each party.

This is the highest Christie has been ranked since the list’s debut in March.  Marco Rubio, who held the front-running position on the CHASE until last month, drops to third, his lowest position on the list to date.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a dark horse candidate who remains unknown to much of the country, falls to fourth.

No changes were made involving the second tier of Republican candidates.

The main switch — raising Christie and dropping Rubio — is largely based on the fact that the Florida senator has fallen significantly in early state presidential primary polling.  In addition, Christie had a month in the spotlight, where he continued to bolster his persona as a winner who can vanquish Democrats on their own turf. This isn’t to say Christie doesn’t face high hurdles to the nomination — I touched on some of them here — but the ranking recognizes his power as a player at the moment and his ability to command news coverage.

Read the entire list of the Republican CHASE HERE.  

Follow Dave’s blog at TheRun2016.com