Martha T. Moore, When Larry Hogan, only the third Republican to be elected governor of Maryland in 50 years, gave his victory speech Tuesday night, he thanked his running mate, his wife and his dad — but not before he thanked New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who made four trips to Maryland to campaign for Hogan and dumped $1.2 million into the race in the final weeks.
"I want to thank Gov. Christie for bringing the cavalry from New Jersey,'' Hogan said.
Christie, chairman of the Republican Governors Association in a year when the GOP almost ran the table in governors' races, is enjoying a winner's aura that might continue to shimmer if he runs for president.
Christie appeared on five morning shows to talk about the success of Republicans in Tuesday's 36 gubernatorial races. The GOP held on to all but one of the 21 Republican governorships and added Illinois, Arkansas, Maryland and Massachusetts to the list of states led by Republicans.
"They had a good night, it was good for me,'' he said on CNN. He reiterated that he will make a decision in 2015 on whether to run for president.
Christie started off his run as RGA chairman after his blowout re-election in 2013. Then, his winner's glow turned to a red face thanks to a scandal involving his staff causing a politically motivated traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge. Christie's campaign manager, Bill Stepien, who was implicated in the scandal, had to leave a new post at the RGA.
In the year since, Christie helped the RGA raise $106 million and traveled to 37 states. Capitalizing on his own appeal, Christie made campaign appearances with almost every GOP gubernatorial candidate. (A notable exception: Rob Astorino in New York, who lost to incumbent Democrat Andrew Cuomo.)
Being RGA chairman is a case of "doing well by doing good,'' says Rick Wilson, a Florida-based Republican strategist. "You elect Republican governors, while collecting some political IOUs. You get to travel to places you'll be in during the presidential run, doing press, raising money, meeting activists. Christie benefits from it on the invisible level.''
Christie didn't do the work alone, Wilson points. out. "The RGA always does an amazing job,'' he says. "Christie's leadership there was good, and he deserves credit, but RGA is a well-tuned, effective operation from the start.''
But donors and party activists take note of a successful campaign operation, and a successful run as chairman can enhance a national reputation.
With voters, however, it won't mean much, says political columnist Stuart Rothenberg. "Zilch. That's how much it will help him.''
Connections and fundraising ability help, but "none of that will address or overcome his fundamental problems, which are considerable in a Republican presidential race,'' Rothenberg says.
Christie had some friction with Tea Party hero Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor who tried to end public employee unions, when Walker implied the RGA wasn't putting enough money into his tough re-election fight. The two officially smoothed things over and Christie campaigned with Walker the weekend before the election. But by helping Walker stay elected, Christie also helped preserve Walker's own chances for being a presidential contender in 2016.
And Christie still has what Wilson calls "some basic presentation issues" — that is, shooting right back when challenged. At a town hall in New Jersey last week, Christie told a questioner to "sit down and shut up.''
On CNN, however, Christie said he has already road-tested his style in other states and it works fine. "I got great reaction from people all over this country in the last 11 months, and what they say to me most of the time is, we like the way you act like yourself. Be direct, give them hell.''
Christie would still have to win over conservatives in early primaries who may think he is too moderate — especially if he is competing against libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., or Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas
Cruz and Paul have strong personal followings through social media and grass-roots organizations, says Taylor Budowich, executive director of the Tea Party Express. In that respect, "Gov. Christie's started from behind. But his campaigning across the country for these governors definitely helps raise him to that stature.''
"I don't think Christie is going to go around saying 'You should elect me because I saved your friend Gov. Walker or Gov. Kasich,'' Budowich says.
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