Meet Chris Christie's Wife Mary Pat Christie

As the second Republican debate kicks off this evening, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is once again participating. It's not his first rodeo on the campaign circuit, as he ran in 2016, so his wife Mary Pat Christie is no stranger to the spotlight. "This is a team sport, running for president," she said in 2016. "There's nothing I'd rather do than help my husband."

Here are five things to know about Chris Christie's wife Mary Pat:

1. She has nine siblings.

Born Mary Pat Foster on September 15, 1963, she is the ninth of 10 children. She grew up in Paoli, Pennsylvania, and attended the University of Delaware. At college, she met her future husband when she was a freshman and he was a sophomore. After she graduated in 1985, she got a MBA at Seton Hall University.

2. Mary Pat and Chris married in 1986.

They have four children: Andrew (b. 1993), Sarah (b. 1996), Patrick (b. 2000), and Bridget (b. 2003). She's private on Instagram, but her bio reads, "Lucky Wife of Chris and Lucky mother of Andrew Sarah Patrick and Bridget. Working hard to make a difference and get Chris on debate stage."

3. She worked near the World Trade Center on 9/11.

On the day of the September 11 attacks, she was working blocks away from the World Trade Center, and was unable to get in touch with her family. Chris later recalled he feared for her life, thinking, "What am I going to do without my best friend? What kind of single dad am I going to be?"

4. She stopped working as in finance in 2015.

She worked for Cantor Fitzgerald and Angelo, Gordon & Co., among other firms. In 2015, she left her job, with a spokesperson for Christie saying, "Mrs. Christie has decided to take a hiatus from her work in the finance world to spend more time with her family and young children."

As First Lady of New Jersey, she chaired the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, fundraising to help relief.

5. Mary Pat now is a partner at Christie 55 Solutions.

Her official bio notes, "Mary Pat currently serves on the boards of Carrier Clinic, a substance abuse rehabilitation facility in Skillman New Jersey; Seton Hall University Board of Regents, Orexo, a specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Uppsala Sweden; and Accelerate 360, a media and distribution company."

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