Christie in New Hampshire 1.jpg

Gov. Chris Christie (left) and Walt Havenstein, the Republican running for governor of New Hampshire, embrace today in Nashua, N.H.

(Matt Arco/NJ Advance Media, for NJ.com)

NASHUA, N.H. — He said he would be back, and he was true to his word.

Gov. Chris Christie, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, is in New Hampshire today campaigning for a GOP gubernatorial hopeful, Walt Havenstein. It's Christie's second visit to the state for Havenstein.

UPDATE:

Chris Christie plans to again return to New Hampshire before long

“This is somebody who understands the principles of honesty and integrity, and forthrightness and responsible management,” Christie said in front of a packed auditorium at a New Hampshire manufacturing company.

The pair spoke with more than 150 employees at BAE Systems Inc., a defense contractor and one of New Hampshire’s largest manufacturers. Havenstein previously worked as the company’s president and CEO.

“I’m not giving a speech,” said Christie, explaining his job was “pretty straight forward” in introducing Havenstein to the warm crowd who gave both men a standing ovation when they entered the room.

The governor spoke for only a few minutes before Havenstein gave his gubernatorial pitch to potential voters and friendly faces.

“I’m delighted that he’s back in New Hampshire. I think it reflects his commitment to the state of New Hampshire,” Havenstein said. “I’m just grateful that he’s supporting me.”

Immediately following the discussion, Christie left Nashua for the state's largest city, Manchester, where he was scheduled to attend an RGA fundraiser at a hotel and then a fundraiser for the New Hampshire GOP at a minor-league baseball game.

Christie didn’t take questions from reporters, even though the event originally billed a 10-minute opportunity for reporters to ask questions.

“There was a miscommunication,” Havenstein spokesman Henry Goodwin said of the canceled press event.

The last time Christie appeared on the New Hampshire campaign trail with Havenstein was in June, where he introduced himself to voters and attended fundraising events as chairman of the RGA.

At the time, Christie was asked if the trip had anything to do with a future presidential bid.

“Absolutely not,” he responded, with an emphatic, “How dare you.”

New Hampshire gubernatorial candidate Walt Havenstein got campaign help from Gov. Chris Christie today.

He explained then that he’s dealt with such talk “every time I’ve come to New Hampshire” — six times now since becoming governor.

But in New Hampshire, Christie is campaigning for an underdog a little more than a week after declaring the RGA doesn’t “pay for landslides (and) invest in lost causes.”

He gave the response when prodded about campaigning for a Republican gubernatorial hopeful in New York, where the man hoping to unseat Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo trials the incumbent by 24 percentage points, according to the latest poll on the race. Cuomo led the Republican challenger, Rob Astorino, by 37 percentage points the day Christie commented on the race.

In a June poll, Havenstein led a pack of three other Republicans hoping to garner their party’s nomination in September and oust incumbent Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan. However, he still trailed the Democrat by more than 31 percentage points. More recent polls showed Hassan leading by 26 percentage points and 15 percentage points.

The New Hampshire gubernatorial race was given a “Safe Democrat” rating by two outlets that monitor political campaigns — Real Clear Politics and The Rothenberg Political Report — earlier this month and a “Likely Democrat” rating from The Cook Political Report.

But for Christie, visiting New Hampshire is good politics “if he’s thinking about 2016,” said Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Political Library at Saint Anselm College in Manchester.

“New Hampshire is the perfect state for him, he’s a born town hall meeting person. If you want to just do campaigning from a podium this is not the state do it,” he said. “This is a very different state because the voters of New Hampshire almost expectthat you’re going to get right in and tell them who you are … (and Christie) commands attention and he’s good in these town hall type of one-on-one engagements.”

Christie’s in “the right place,” Levesque said, adding he expects to hear New Jersey’s governor travel here again sooner than later.

And the governor left little doubt whether he plans to return to the Granite State before the November elections.

“I’m going to be up here often to help Walt (Havenstein) as much as I possibly can,” Christie said.

Democrats dubbed the governor’s latest appearance his “presidential rehabilitation tour,” said Mo Elleithee, communications director of the Democratic National Committee.

“I think it’s pretty clear why he’s here,” he said, explaining that “just a couple of days ago” Christie said the RGA doesn’t put resources in long shot campaigns.

The Democratic spokesman blasted Christie’s economic record at home in the Garden State, saying, “We’re not going to let him use an event like this to pull a fast one on people and sell a bill of goods of a phantom (economic policy in Jersey).”

The last poll of likely Republican voters in New Hampshire showed Christie, who has been hurt by the fallout from the George Washington Bridge controversy, as a leading GOPchoice for a presidential run — unless Romney mounted another presidential run.

Romney was the favorite among 24 percent of GOP voters here and Christie came in at a distant second at 9 percent, according to the July survey. But when Romney — who has repeatedly denied any interest in running a 2016 race — was taken out of the mix, Christie tied with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) at 11 percent. They were followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) at 8 percent, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman at 7 percent and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) at 5 percent.

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