AP FILE PHOTO Gov. Chris Christie and Mitt Romney (right) pictured in 2011 were to appear together Tuesday night in Boston. Gov. Chris Christie shown with Mitt Romney will give the keynote address Tuesday at the GOP convention. AP Gov. Chris Christie endorses Mitt Romney (right) for president in New Hampshire on Tuesday. ASSOCIATED PRESS New Jersey Gov. Chris Chrisitie left endorses Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney right Tuesday Oct. 11 2011 during a news conference in Lebanon N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)(Photo Jim Cole AP)
Story HighlightsThe decision reshapes a fight for support over Romney's past donors between Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Those donors had been considered up for grabs until Romney complicated things for both camps when he said he was contemplating a third run for president.The race is on between Chris Christie and Jeb Bush to court support from establishment Republican donors up for grabs after Mitt Romney bowed out on a potential 2016 presidential campaign.
Christie was to meet Romney in New York for dinner Friday hours after Romney said he had decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee.''
Romney met with Bush last week. The two men along with Christie had been reaching out to many of the same donors and other GOP supporters as groundwork for their potential campaigns.
There were signs of Romney fatigue within the party when the former Massachusetts governor in recent weeks sparked the idea of running for president for the third time.
Donald Trump drew cheers at a summit for religious conservatives in Iowa last week when he said It can't be Mitt. He ran and failed.''
Still Lawrence Bathgate an Ocean County attorney who is a top New Jersey GOP fundraiser said a Romney endorsement for one of the remaining candidates is almost like chicken soup. It can't hurt.''
Bathgate who served as the Republican National Committee's finance chairman under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush supported Romney in 2012 but said he has been raising money for Jeb Bush in this cycle.
Matthew Hale a Seton Hall University political science professor said Bush may benefit more than Christie from Romney's exit.
The patrician wing of the Republican party is now down to one candidate Jeb Bush. The populist but not Tea Party wing still has Chris Christie leading it but Scott Walker is looking to take that title as well '' Hale said. I would expect a mad rush to Romney donors from everyone else.''
USA Today reported that the Romney announcement prompted several GOP fundraisers to quickly commit to Bush including Bill Kunkler a private equity firm executive in Chicago who raised money for Romney's 2012 campaign and David Beightol a top Romney fundraiser among Washington lobbyists in 2012 while Bobbie Kilberg an executive in Northern Virginia who with her husband lawyer Bill Kilberg raised millions for Romney's campaigns said the couple now would turn its focus to boosting Christie's chances.
A Fox News poll released Thursday also showed a bigger likely bump for Bush with Romney out of the race for the Republican nomination. Romney led the poll but Bush went from fourth place to first picking up 5 percentage points when Romney wasn't a choice. Christie only picked up 2 percentage points and was in sixth place.
Still Romney's exit come at the end of a strong week for Christie's potential campaign.
Christie last Saturday at the Iowa Freedom Summit delivered a speech that had the look and feel of an unofficial campaign kickoff.
A Christie political action committee or PAC was launched to accept donations to pay for expenses such as polling staff and travel. Christie adviser Bill Palatucci said the initial response is going well.''
The 2012 Romney campaign vetted Christie as a potential running mate. Romney ended up choosing U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan R Wisconsin to run as vice president.
According to the book Double Down the Romney campaign vetters said Christie's team provided incomplete information about a host of potential red flags pertaining to his record.
When the leaked details of the vetting process appeared in the book Christie called it a complete violation of trust of me and very disappointing. He also said Romney called to apologize.
But the two men seemed to be back on good terms last September when Romney attended a state Republican fundraiser in East Brunswick that also served as a birthday celebration for Christie who turned 52.
They led the crowd in singing Happy Birthday'' and both poked fun at the president.
I'm proud to be on a stage with a man who knows what to do '' Romney said of Christie.
Bob Jordan 609 984 4343 bjordan app.com
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