Christie still oddsmakers' favorite to win GOP nomination

Christie still oddsmakers' favorite to win GOP nomination

Scandals? What scandals?

Despite facing a pair of controversies worthy of having the word "gate" attached to them, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie remains one of the odds-on favorites to win the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

According to Oddschecker.com, a British website that tracks online bookmakers, Christie and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio are both 5-to-1 favorites to win the GOP nomination, according to one bookmaker. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (9 to 1) and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (12 to 1) are less favored, while Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (33 to 1) is a popular long shot.

But according to some U.K. betting sites, the odds of Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush getting the 2016 GOP nod are "drifting."

By comparison, Hillary Clinton is nearly a prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic presidential nomination. According to the site, the odds of the former secretary of state gaining the Democratic nomination are 11 to 10 with one bookmaker, while the odds for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (12 to 1) and Vice President Joe Biden (18 to 1) are significantly longer.

In terms of volume, Christie is getting more than 18 percent of the 2016 GOP bets. Clinton, meanwhile, is getting more than half (53 percent) of all bets on the Democratic nomination.

As far as winning the presidency, Clinton is the favorite with 2-to-1 odds; Christie and Rubio are currently 12-to-1 underdogs.

The bookmakers' odds, while undeniably fun to look at, should be taken with a rather large grain of salt. Several sites include odds for celebrities who have expressed no real interest in running for president. One bookmaker lists Eva Longoria and Alec Baldwin (both 200 to 1) as long shots for the Democratic nomination. (Longoria and Baldwin have the same odds as Michelle Obama.) Another gives Steven Spielberg, George Clooney and Kiefer Sutherland 100-to-1 odds — the same odds given to Chelsea Clinton.

Three online bookies give Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services secretary at the center of last fall's bungled rollout of the Obamacare website, 33-to-1 odds of winning the Democratic nod.

The fact that Christie remains a favorite despite the scandals is not entirely surprising. In a Rasmussen poll of likely New Jersey voters — taken following Christie's lengthy press conference in which he apologized for his staffers' involvement in the George Washington Bridge closure — nearly 40 percent said the incident would have no impact on their decision to vote for him in a potential presidential race, while 14 percent said they would be more likely to vote for him.

Current 2016 presidential candidate betting odds of winning

Presidential election
• Hillary Clinton (2/1)
• Chris Christie (12/1)
• Marco Rubio (12/1)
• Rand Paul (20/1)
• Jeb Bush (20/1)

Republican nomination
• Chris Christie (5/1)
• Marco Rubio (5/1)
• Rand Paul (9/1)
• Paul Ryan (12/1)
• Bobby Jindal (33/1)

Democratic nomination
• Hillary Clinton (11/10)
• Elizabeth Warren (12/1)
• Joe Biden (18/1)
• Kirsten Gillibrand (20/1)
• Andrew Cuomo (20/1)

Source: Oddschecker.com