Fresh off his overwhelming reelection victory, NJ Governor Chris Christie is dreaming big, very big. Or not. Amid speculations about a possible presidential standoff between two neighboring governors, Christie and NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, rumors have it that the fight is supposed to kick off sooner than expected.
According to a report by the NY Post’s Fred Dicker Monday morning, Christie, the new head of the Republican Governors Association and the early front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, told Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino last week that he’s ready to back him to the hilt if Astorino challenges Democrat Cuomo in next year’s gubernatorial election.
“Christie basically told him that he’d love nothing better than to see him beat Andrew Cuomo,” a RGA source told The Post, referring to an hourlong private meeting Christie held with Astorino at the RGA’s annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. “Christie offered to do all he could to help Rob, and he was among loads of people at the meeting who were saying, ‘Run, baby, run.’ ’’
A second source familiar with the meeting told The Daily News that Christie and others encouraged Astorino to spend the next few months honing his message, building political support within New York and developing the financial support needed to challenge Gov. Cuomo, who as of July had $28 million in campaign cash on hand.
“Rob was exploring what it’s like to do a statewide race for governor in a blue state,” another source told The Daily News. “Christie was very encouraging and seemed very impressed with Rob. I have no doubt that he personally would be supportive of Rob.”
A nationally prominent Republican strategist told The Post, Christie would be greatly aided with Astorino as governor, if he indeed runs for President.
“Christie is looking for chits for the 2016 race, and he’s going to be looking for money in New York for a run for president. Having Rob Astorino as governor would really help,’’ the strategist said. “Plus, with Astorino as governor, Christie would be able to count on his help in the New Hampshire primary, where a Republican New York governor could certainly help by putting a lot of boots on the ground there.’’
In a conference call with reporters, Monday morning, Governor Cuomo revealed he had a conversation with Christie earlier in the day, where the New Jersey Republican disputed the report that said he encouraged Astorino to run against Cuomo.
“You have to consider the source and I think you know where that source is coming from,” Cuomo first responded to a question by one of the reporters.
“I can tell you this: I spoke to Governor Christie this morning, who told me the exact opposite,” Cuomo further said. “And I’ll leave it at that.”
When pressed, Cuomo didn’t elaborate. “We had a conversation and Governor Christie said that it was not accurate, what was suggested in that column,” he said.
One Response
sure Christie will say “hey my good friend Cuomo I’m working on getting you voted out of office.”