Shaquille O’Neal supported New Jersey Republican Chris Christie during the 2013 race for governor, but now it appears he is dumping the GOP and backing Democrat Phil Murphy for 2017.
On Thursday, Murphy campaign spokesman Dan Bryan said the Lakers great will officially endorse the Democrat early next week, the Associated Press reported.
O’Neal praised Christie as a “great man” during the Gov’s 2013 re-election campaign and appeared in TV ads with him. Though, it appears that the Newark-born basketball star isn’t sticking with Christie’s Republican Party which has chosen Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno for 2017.
Gov. Christie is in his last year in office and cannot run for a third term due to New Jersey’s term limit laws.
Democrat Murphy has several high profile supporters. For starters, his campaign touted the support of former Vice President Joe Biden. Murphy also told supporters that former President Barack Obama would be campaigning for him.
Murphy later picked up the support of actor and comedian Joe Piscopo, another famous son of the Garden State.
It is not known if the four-time NBA champion will hit the campaign trail for Murphy or cut any TV commercials for him as he did for Christie.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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