New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's presidential announcement was a Jersey affair with a dash of Dallas. Among those jammed into the Livingston High School gymnasium for Christie's Tuesday morning campaign rollout was Dallas developer Ray Washburne, co-owner of Highland Park Village.
"It was Bon Jovi music at the announcement," says Washburne. "I'll have to get used to that. No more Willie and Waylon."
Two years ago, Washburne hosted Christie for a Dallas Cowboys game at AT&T Stadium and introduced the governor to team owner Jerry Jones. It was a fortuitous meeting that resulted in Christie and his orange-sweater mojo as a fixture in Jones' box last season.
A modern presidential campaign now must raise hundreds of millions of dollars. Add in super-PACs and third-party groups and the figure climbs over a billion. That's where Washburne fits in. A proven rainmaker for Bush 43 and Mitt Romney, he was most recently national finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. But when his term expired in January, he did not seek reelection to the post. Now he is national finance chair for the Christie campaign.
