Christie raises $102 million for GOP governors

BURLINGTON - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie rode a $100 million wave into this Mississippi River town Thursday night.

The Republican Governors Association announced it had raised $102 million during Christie's tenure as RGA chairman. The New Jersey governor made his fourth stop in Iowa this election cycle to campaign on Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's behalf after attending an early birthday party/fundraiser with the Iowa governor last weekend in Clive.

RGA executive director Phil Cox said the funds raised under Christie's guidance will provide the resources required to defend 22 GOP-held offices among 36 gubernatorial races nationwide - including Branstad and 18 other Republican incumbents. Nine of those incumbents - including Branstad - govern states President Obama won in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.

'As our electoral map continues to expand, Democrats face a shrinking map thanks to growing dissatisfaction with the high-tax, anti-growth policies their governors have put in place,” Cox said in a statement. 'The RGA's fundraising strength under Gov. Christie's leadership has allowed us to tout the reforms and successes of our Republican governors and challengers, while providing a firewall to the millions spent by the Public Sector Unions and extreme environmentalists, putting us in position for gains on Election Day.”

During a campaign stop in Bondurant earlier Thursday, Branstad said 'it's too early” to speculate whether Christie will be a candidate for the 2016 Republican president nomination - a selection process that begins with the first-in-the-nation Iowa precinct caucuses.

Branstad noted that during the 2014 election cycle Christie traveled to 37 states and spent more than 70 days on the road campaigning for GOP gubernatorial candidates. That list included the early presidential states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

But the Iowa governor noted there have been 'a lot of people that have helped us,” including Govs. Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Mike Pence of Indiana, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, former Govs. Jeb Bush of Florida and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rob Portman of Ohio, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and New York real estate entrepreneur Donald Trump.

'I feel really good about the way it's going and the fact that we've got everybody pitching in to help,” Branstad said of the flood of big-name GOP surrogates who have helped Iowa candidates during the 2014 election cycle.