Governor Chris Christie Gives Annual State Of The State Address

Gov. Chris Christie file photo.

(Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie raised money for Republican candidates at a pace of nearly one out of every three days of 2014, figures from a nonpartisan government watchdog group show.

Christie, who served as chairman of the Republican Governors Association in 2014 and helped raise a record-breaking $106 million for the group, attended at least 109 fundraisers last year as he crisscrossed the country to campaign and fundraise for GOP gubernatorial and U.S. Senate candidates, according to data compiled by the Sunlight Foundation

His fundraising schedule even outpaced President Obama, who went to 71 events in 2014.

The figures, while not a complete picture of fundraisers Christie and other national figures attended, highlights a significant asset to a Christie presidential campaign: a deep donor Rolodex.

The Sunlight Foundation's Party Time collects fundraiser invitations and searches the Internet for any mention of fundraisers. However, it's not a complete list since it relies heavily on crowdsourcing.

But Bill Allison, a senior fellow at the Sunlight Foundation, referred to Christie's numbers as "significant."

"He's chosen a vehicle that made it really obvious that he connected with donors. That's a pretty strong weapon that he's wielding," he said. "(The RGA was) a huge benefit - especially with bigger donors, they like to feel some sort of personal relationship with the politicians."

Christie and his supporters formed the Leadership Matters for American PAC in January to begin assembling a team and raise money for travel. The governor and his allies will continue courting GOP donors, except this time, it will be for a likely Christie campaign - not for his fellow Republicans.

"He's got a very deep Rolodex now with a lot of names and that's, in part, by going to a lot of these fundraisers," Allison said. "The name of the game at this stage is that you're not aiming at voters, you're aiming at donors."

In contrast to Christie, Obama went to at least 71 fundraisers last year, according to the group's figures, and Vice President Joe Biden went to at least 53.

Christie's political advisers declined comment. The governor's extensive fundraising history doesn't come as a surprise to others.

"That's where we thought he was all that time out of state," said Patrick Murray, director of Monmouth University Polling Institute, adding, "That really doesn't surprise me, he was out of the state a lot."

The governor spent all or part of 137 days out of state last year. The bulk of his travel was related to RGA work.

Christie and his allies stressed during his RGA travel that the governor was focused on the November elections - not his possible presidential ambition. Republican gains in governor mansions across the country (the GOP went from 29 states to 31 with Republican governors, including flipping previously Democratic gubernatorial states like Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois) only

"He certainly has raised the bar," said Phil Cox, the RGA's executive director, immediately after the November elections. "He said from the start that this was his only political priority this year, (which) was electing and reelecting Republican governors. And the results speak for themselves."

Cox has since left the RGA to serve as a senior adviser to Christie's national PAC.

The aggressive fundraising didn't just shatter records, it opened doors, political observers agree.

"He certainly was using that as a stepping stone," Murray said.

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