Good job Fat Man.
Chris Christie's RGA scores wins in Florida, Wisconsin, IllinoisBy Matt Arco and Claude Brodesser-Akner | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on November 05, 2014 at 12:30 AM, updated November 05, 2014 at 7:30 AM
WOODBRIDGE — It was expensive, nasty, and exceptionally close — but a win is a win: Florida Incumbent Gov. Rick Scott defeated his Democratic challenger in a race Gov. Chris Christie kept a close eye on.
Scott won another term against Democratic challenger Charlie Crist, thanks in no small measure to enormous funding from the Republican Governors Association, which Christie chairs.
The $19 million spent in Florida by the RGA marked not only the single-largest expenditure ever made by the group, but also helped make the contest the most costly midterm election race in the nation. Some $100 million flowed into dueling TV commercials between Scott and his challenger. In all, Christie visited the state eight times in the last year and attending about 20 campaign events. The win in Florida is part of a trifecta of hotly contested governorships, including Wisconsin and Illinois, identified by Christie as crucial to any Republican candidate winning the presidency in 2016. “Would you rather have Rick Scott in Florida overseeing the voting mechanism, or Charlie Crist? Would you rather have Scott Walker in Wisconsin overseeing the voting mechanism, or would you rather have Mary Burke? Who would you rather have in Ohio, John Kasich or Ed FitzGerald?” he asked. In the end, all three of those Republican gubernatorial candidates — Scott in Florida, Walker in Wisconsin, and Bruce Rauner in Illinois — prevailed. Walker, who benefited from more than $8 million from the GOP, could also be a potential future rival. Like Christie, Walker is expected to be mulling a 2016 White House bid. Christie congratulated Walker, who he campaigned for during his first gubernatorial and again when Walker faced a recall election, for winning “for the third time in four years.”
“Wisconsin rewarded bold leadership and the real results it yield,” Christie said in a statement, adding the Republican will “will continue to take Wisconsin in the right direction in his second term.”
Christie appeared on the campaign trail in Wisconsin twice in recent months. During a September visit, Christie took aim at public worker unions, saying they wanted to make an example of Walker by outsing him on Election Day because he did “tough things to put taxpayers first.”
It was a mixed bag for Christie shortly after midnight on Tuesday.
Christie, who campaigned coast-to-coast to elect Republican governors for the past ten months as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, scored some big victories and was dealt a few setbacks as votes continued to be tallied in some of the 36 states where people went to the polls to elect governors.
Republicans controlled 20 states and Democrats were elected in seven states – 9 states were still undecided.
The GOP won in South Carolina, Ohio, Arkansas, South Dakota, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Florida, New Mexico, Illinois, Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia, Nevada, Maryland and Michigan.
Christie spent a lot of time and the RGA invested a record-breaking amount in Florida’s gubernatorial contest. Meanwhile, candidates in South Carolina and Iowa sailed to victory as expected.
Christie touched down in Iowa four times in recent months and twice in South Carolina. Iowa is home to the nation’s first presidential caucus and South Carolina holds the first presidential primary in the South.
Democrats controlled Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, California, Minnesota, Oregon and Rhode Island.
Christie hoped to deliver a win for Republican gubernatorial hopeful Walt Havenstein in New Hampshire, where he visited the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state four times in recent months. However, the state’s incumbent Democratic governor fended off the challenge.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania flipped control after voters elected a Democratic challenger to the state’s Republican incumbent Christie campaigned with and the RGA funded.
Races were still not called in Vermont, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Kansas, Maine, Idaho, Hawaii and Alaska.
Before going into Election Day, Republicans held governor mansions in 22 states and Democratic governors controlled 14 states.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/11/christie_election_recap.html