Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie has not declared his gubernatorial candidacy yet, but without even personally pleading his case to anyone, he has already rolled up the support of several GOP chairmen -- some from heavily Republican counties.
George Gilmore, the Republican chairman of Ocean County, will personally endorse Christie if he decides to enter the race, as will his counterparts John Sette in Morris County and Doug Steinhardt in Warren County. Some other Republican chairs are circumspect about committing this early in the process, but say they lean towards Christie.
“Now this is my personal statement obviously, but I think Chris Christie, if he is desirous of running for governor, offers the best opportunity for the Republican Party to win a statewide election next year against Gov. Corzine,” said Gilmore.
That may be just a personal endorsement, but Gilmore’s chosen candidates tend to sail through his committee’s endorsement process in conventions that can take on the appearance of a mere formality. County chairs – some more so than others – are influential in deciding which candidate gets their organization’s endorsement, and with it, in most cases, the coveted county line.
Christie’s home county of Morris is one of the few that does not award a line. It’s also the home county of Assemblyman Rick Merkt, who has already declared his intention to run for governor, and Freeholder John Murphy, who might run if Christie does not. Despite having a wellspring of potential candidates in his backyard, however, Sette is unequivocal about who he wants to see run.
“I might have two hometown candidates, but there’s only one that I’m supporting: Chris Christie. If he runs I’m with him. I know we have an open primary, and I want to win this race,’ he said.
Sette said he has not talked to Christie about his prospective run, even though he ran into him at Dunkin Donuts this morning, when the former U.S. Attorney was on his way to an event honoring him organized by two Essex County Democrats.
“He had a tie on. I just said ‘your first day out of work?’ He said he was going to go see [Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo]. It blew my mind. I thought he’d be relaxing at home.”
Sette called Merkt a “good spokesman for the Republican Party” and a “great assemblyman,” but said that he “is not going to be the governor of the State of New Jersey.
“He doesn’t have the elected officials or the money behind him. He’s a good guy. But if you have to bet on somebody, this is our chance to take back the office and have a Republican governor,” said Sette.
Steinhardt, for his part, said that Christie has the name recognition and record necessary to be a strong candidate against Gov. Corzine, who will likely pour millions of dollars of his own into his reelection bid. He stressed the importance of rallying behind a candidate early and avoiding the intra-party squabbles that often weigh down the GOP.
“It’s important to unify behind someone early. The Democrats get to put all their eggs in Gov. Corzine’s reelection basket,” he said.
In once Republican-dominated Burlington County, GOP Chairman Bill Layton is licking his wounds from last month’s crushing electoral defeat. He’s hoping to have a strong candidate at the top of the ticket to keep his party’s freeholder majority and begin a march back to dominance.
Layton thinks Christie is the candidate most capable of that.
“We have a process in Burlington County and we’ll follow that process. But personally I’ve been out in support of Chris Christie running for governor for some time now, and I’m hopeful that the organization will see things the same way I see them,” he said. “There are still going to be opportunities for other people to impress the organization… Things can change.”
So far, Merkt and conservative activist Steve Lonegan are the only declared candidates for governor. Several other potential candidates are weighing their options, including biotech executive John Crowley and Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine.
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