NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Four years ago, seven big-money donors and leading Republican activists from Iowa loaded into a private plane and headed to New Jersey for an urgent meeting with Chris Christie. Their message: Run, Chris, run.
The group from the lead-off caucus state failed in that mission to persuade the brash New Jersey governor to jump into the 2012 race for president. This time around, Christie’s White House ambitions no longer appear to be an issue. But those once-eager Iowans aren’t as keen to throw their support his way.
“It’s a brand new ballgame,” says donor Gary Kirke. “There’s a lot more people in the race, and a lot has happened since then.”
Of the seven who made the May 2011 trip to meet with Christie at the sprawling Drumthwacket governor’s mansion, Kirke is the most outspoken. Two others are undecided about who they’ll support in 2016, one doesn’t plan to back any candidate, while two remain loyal Christie supporters. The seventh did not respond to several messages left by The Associated Press.
The change in passions is a reflection of how the still-early race for the Republican nomination is dramatically different from four years ago, when eventual GOP pick Mitt Romney emerged from a large but relatively little-known field of candidates.