(Adds details)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie, who has frequently been mentioned as a possible
Republican presidential candidate, was taken to the hospital
Thursday after having "difficulty breathing," his spokesman
said.
Christie, 48, who is heavily overweight and has asthma, was
given "routine tests as a precautionary measure," spokesman
Michael Drewniak said in a statement.
"Governor Christie was having difficulty breathing this
morning and out of an abundance of caution he went to Somerset
Medical Center to be checked out," Drewniak said.
The Republican governor has said repeatedly that he is not
running for the White House. Earlier this month former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney said Christie said was on
his short-list for vice president if Romney wins the Republican
Party's presidential nomination.
Christie has been a rising Republican star since taking
office last year with a low-tax, lean-government agenda, and
erasing a record $11 billion budget deficit while limiting
annual increases in the state's high property taxes.
He has publicly acknowledged struggling with his weight. He
frequently jokes about it, and once told radio host Don Imus in
mock exaggeration that he weighed 550 pounds.
(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Jackie Frank)
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