New Jersey Governor Chris Christie delivers his state of the state address at the New Jersey State House in Trenton, New Jersey, in this file photo taken January 13, 2015. Jumping in while potential rivals Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney are absent, Chris Christie will try to grab the spotlight in Iowa on Saturday at the first big gathering of likely 2016 Republican presidential contenders. [Photo/Agencies]

NEWARK, New Jersey - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a popular moderate Republican, has taken his firmest step yet toward running for president, launching an organization that allows him to raise money for a potential 2016 campaign.

While not a formal entry into the race, opening the political action committee is the clearest sign yet that Christie will seek the Republican presidential nomination.

If he runs, Christie could find himself competing for support and donations with Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush - two favorites of the Republican establishment who have greater national profiles.

Bush, the son and brother of presidents, announced in December he was launching a similar organization. That kicked off an aggressive race to lock down donors and may have drawn 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney into the race.

"We believe there's a void right now in leadership throughout the country," Christie's chief political adviser Mike DuHaime told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news. "We aim to support candidates who are willing to take on tough problems and make tough decisions."

While the Republican race to succeed President Barack Obama is seen as wide open, Democrats are expected to heavily favor Hillary Rodham Clinton if she launches another presidential campaign.

Christie's creation of the political action committee 7/87/8 - called Leadership Matters for America - was widely expected. The former federal prosecutor has been in the Republican Party's presidential discussion since 2012, when he passed on the race and was later considered by Romney as a potential running mate.

But Christie also has challenges to overcome, including the still-pending federal investigation into accusations that former staff members and appointees created traffic jams as political payback against the Democratic mayor of a New York suburb by blocking access lanes to the heavily traveled George Washington Bridge into Manhattan.

He's also dogged by questions about the economy of New Jersey, including several recent downgrades of the state's credit rating and sluggish job growth. Christie is also viewed with distrust in certain conservative circles, while others question whether his brash persona and habit of confrontation will play well outside his home state.

After overwhelmingly winning re-election in heavily Democratic New Jersey in 2013, Christie turned quickly toward laying the groundwork for a 2016 campaign. In the past several months, he has courted donors, convened briefing sessions on foreign policy and made repeated visits to early-voting states, including Iowa over the weekend.

Christie's campaign is likely to focus on many of the themes he's spent years developing in New Jersey, including a pitch that he can expand the Republican Party's tent by appealing to independent, women and minority voters, who helped him win re-election.

He recently completed a year of fundraising as chair of the Republican Governors Association. The group raised more than $100 million and helped Republican candidates win a series of unexpected races, including the nominally Democratic states of Maryland and Illinois.

Serving as RGA chief gave Christie the opportunity to travel across the country and build relationships with donors and activists. He is also one of his party's most talented one-on-one politicians, reveling in the kind of interaction that voters in the crucial early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire demand.