New Jersey governor a rising Republican star

When President Obama went to New Jersey in October 2009, it was in support of then- Gov. Jon Corzine’s reelection campaign. As he returns one year later for a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Cresskill Wednesday night, the Garden State’s new Republican governor won’t be there to greet him.

Instead, Chris Christie is on the road in Michigan, the latest stop on a busy, blue-state-heavy itinerary campaigning for Republican gubernatorial candidates. After just 10 months in office, the brash former prosecutor has become one the party’s most sought-after surrogates.

“He’s a total rock star,” said Scott Walker, the GOP nominee for governor in Wisconsin, who stumped with Christie this week. “He’s the closest thing we have to the president.”

Despite heavy spending by his opponent, multiple visits from Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, and the state’s strong Democratic tilt, Christie defeated Corzine by 3.6% in November 2009, a victory that presaged other Republican upsets to come in deeply blue Massachusetts and Hawaii.

Since taking office, he has engaged in a fierce battle with state employee unions in an effort to close what was one of the biggest budget deficits in the nation, becoming a conservative sensation in the process for bluntly taking on his critics and even the media.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who was elected the same night as Christie, was asked to deliver the Republican response to Obama’s State of the Union address in January; Christie’s star has since outshone him. The Republican Governors Assn. recently produced a 23-minute video that debuted at a Washington theater last month to tell his story, calling it an example of what could happen if they elected 37 more Chris Christies this fall.

“He’s been spectacular,” Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chair of the governors association, said in an interview after the screening. “Here’s a guy who was criticized for avoiding issues in the campaign, where he’s done just the opposite as the governor. He has taken on the tough issues and has been very straight up and down about it.”

Even with a Democratic legislature, Christie closed the state’s deficit without raising taxes, and pushed through a cap on property tax increases — addressing what is perhaps the state’s thorniest challenge. He’s partnered with the Democratic mayor of Newark, Cory Booker, on issues such as education reform; the two recently appeared on “Oprah” to accept a $100-million grant for the city’s troubled schools system from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Of late though, he’s taken to the campaign trail, selling the idea that what he’s done in New Jersey can take hold elsewhere. The states he has visited already — New Mexico, California, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin — were all carried by Obama in 2008, and all but one has a Democratic governor today.

On a trip to Iowa this week, he addressed more than 800 voters at a fundraiser for Terry Branstad, the state’s former governor seeking a return to office this year. In a state used to sizing up future presidents, Christie left them awestruck, said Tim Albrecht, Branstad campaign spokesman.

“Governor Branstad said that it was the most inspiring speech he’s seen since Ronald Reagan was here,” Albrecht said. “Not only did he campaign on Republican principles, but he’s actually governed on Republican principles. And I think that’s what the grass-roots are really looking for and really want to see.”

Walker, the executive of Milwaukee County, called him the ideal surrogate for his campaign. Traveling with him was like “campaigning with my brother,” he said, and in the Internet age — “He’s like a YouTube hero” — Christie was already a known quantity.

“In times of crisis, [people] want leadership, and his kind of no-nonsense approach is leadership,” Walker said. “For me, my two great examples is my record in my county for what I can do in my state, but the other example, which is just perfect, is Chris Christie.”

Such praise has already led to the inevitable question of whether Christie could be a presidential candidate. He’s gotten the question a lot of late, but tamps down such speculation in part by saying he’s not ready.

“You gotta want it more than anything else. I don’t want it that badly,” he told CNBC last month. “Secondly, you gotta believe in your heart that you are ready to walk into the Oval Office and to lead the nation. And I don’t feel like I’m ready. So, it makes it very easy for me.”

“He’s been pretty unequivocal about it,” said Mike Duhaime, Christie’s former campaign manager who still advises him. “To the extent that he can help people in other states who are like-minded, he’s happy to do it.”

In the coming weeks, Christie plans to campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidates in Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. In the latter, he’ll also stump for some congressional candidates, Duhaime said.

mmemoli@tribune.com

twitter.com/mikememoli