Zuckerberg is offering financial support to Chris Christie's reelection campaign. Zuckerberg to fundraise for Christie

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has friended New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan will host a fundraiser next month in California for the Republican’s reelection campaign, a Christie official and Facebook confirmed.


( PHOTOS: Mark Zuckerberg with pols)

BuzzFeed first reported the fundraiser, noting that Christie met Zuckerberg three years ago when the Facebook founder gave $100 million to Newark public schools.

The two appeared on Oprah with Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who was expected to challenge Christie this year until deciding to campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2014. At the time, Zuckerberg was facing negative press associated with the then-upcoming movie “The Social Network.”

"Mark and Priscilla have worked closely with Gov. Christie on education reform in the Newark school system,” Facebook spokeswoman Sarah Feinberg said in via email. “They admire his leadership on education reform and other issues and look forward to continuing their important work together on behalf of Newark's school children. Mark and Priscilla are happy to host him at their home to support his reelection."

On Thursday afternoon, the Democratic Governors Association called on Zuckerberg to cancel the fundraiser, starting an online petition drive.

Maggie Haberman and Elizabeth Wasserman contributed to this report.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 11:33 a.m. on January 24, 2013.