GOP donors worried about Christie’s 2016 prospects

CHICAGO — Where just months ago Republicans brimmed with pride over Chris Christie’s landslide re-election, doubts about his prospects as a potential presidential candidate have begun creeping into the minds of some donors in key states, according to some GOP fundraisers.

The celebrity New Jersey governor is in Chicago Tuesday to raise money for the Republican Governors Association that he chairs. While Christie gets credit for helping raise millions of dollars to help hold the GOP’s edge in governorships this fall, what was supposed to be a re-election victory tour featuring him as a rising national leader has sparked a different conversation.

Ann Herberger, a national Republican fundraiser based in Florida, said Christie’s robust persona and blunt style can pack a room. Some donors, however, have expressed reservations about his future because of the flap over the closure of two access lanes to the heavily traveled George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and Manhattan for four days last September.

Emails from a top political adviser and between a top Christie aide and a Port Authority official he appointed cast the traffic-snarling lane closures as retaliation for a local mayor’s decision not to endorse Christie’s re-election. Christie fired the aide and his political adviser but has denied authorizing or knowing about the scheme until the emails became public last month.

“There are influential donors who are giving him a second and third look,” Herberger said of Christie. “Where they would have been ‘this is the guy’ two months ago, I think a lot of people are giving him a second look and keeping their powder dry.”

“But that could change, too,” said Herberger. “There’s so much time between now and the primaries.”

Herberger is a longtime fundraiser for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, another 2016 GOP presidential prospect. While her comments echoed those of some fundraisers in a handful of battleground states, far more Republican donors and officials are publicly withholding judgment on Christie until it’s clear whether his adamant denial of involvement in the lane closures withstands scrutiny.

If it does, he survives as a 2016 prospect. If it doesn’t, he’s finished, his most vocal advocates agree. Christie has said he won’t decide for another year whether to run for president.

“I’m just not seeing” donor apprehension, said Phil Cox, executive director of the Republican Governors Association. “We’re off to a historically strong start.”

Christie’s political future aside, the RGA has raised $15 million since December, when Christie became its chairman, said Gail Gitcho, the association’s communication director. That includes $6 million in January, when internal state email about the traffic scandal was becoming public. The group had raised $5 million over the same period before the 2010 midterm elections, RGA executive director Phil Cox said. Christie was expected to raise more than $1 million for the group on the one-day trip to Chicago, he added.

Still, there was no escaping the questions hanging over the 2016 presidential prospect Tuesday. In New Jersey, Christie representatives were scheduled to ask state officials if his political fundraisers can raise extra money to pay for the requirements of complying with subpoenas related to the allegations that the George Washington Bridge traffic snarl was politically motivated.

Christie planned to attend a private Tuesday morning fundraiser for Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin. He also scheduled an hourlong public appearance Tuesday before roughly 1,600 Chicago business elites and a full contingent of national press at the Economic Club of Chicago.

He planned to take prepared questions in a session moderated by Motorola Solutions CEO Greg Brown — his first public appearance since his two-hour news conference Jan. 9 on the traffic scandal. Private meetings in the afternoon with high-dollar donors were to be capped with a dinner at the home of billionaire couple Ken and Anne Griffin.

Democrats, meanwhile, have been busily trying to fan the flames of Christie’s problems. “He needs to explain how such a culture could be created among his closest advisers that they would feel comfortable closing the busiest bridge in the world,” former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland told The Associated Press in Chicago Tuesday. Strickland, who was dispatched to Chicago by the Democratic National Committee, also was quick to point out that Texas gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott and GOP Gov. Rick Perry were absent from Christie’s events in the state last week.

Christie got commitments of $1.5 million from donors in Texas, said Gitcho.

Christie remains a popular figure in segments of the national Republican donor base and among other GOP governors.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott joined Christie in Florida last week and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is welcoming his help. Both face tough fights this year for re-election. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, viewed as a safe bet for re-election for now, also is standing by him.

“I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt, just like anyone else. Innocent until proven guilty,” Branstad said last week.

John Rood, a top Florida GOP fundraiser, also defended Christie, saying hardball politics is a valued trait.

“You want a president who is strong, who will stand up to world leaders. Does that make him a bully? I don’t know,” said Rood. “There’s a fine line in that range of personality.”

———

Associated Press writers Angela Delli Santi in Trenton, N.J, and Catherine Lucey in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.