Chris Christie pushes back on calls to rein in sports gambling

Chris Christie chuckled recalling how quickly signing New Jersey’s first legalized sports gambling law in 2012 sparked a lawsuit from the NCAA and the nation’s largest professional sports leagues against his state.   The Republican governor’s goal at the time was to reassert Atlantic City as an East Coast gambling destination and drive tourism to a shoreline in need of an economic boost. After years of legal fights sparked in part by that…