Christie tapped to keynote TN GOP dinner

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will headline the Tennessee GOP’s Statesmen’s Dinner in May, The Hill has learned. 

Christie, the current chairman of the Republican Governors Association and a possible 2016 presidential candidate, will keynote the Volunteer State Republican Party’s major fundraising dinner on May 30. 

{mosads}“This year Tennessee will prove, once more, it is a blueprint for Republican success for the rest of the nation,” Tennessee GOP Chairman Chris Devaney will say in a statement this afternoon. “We are thrilled to have Governor Christie here to highlight that message because he knows what it takes to win and lead. He’s proven the Republican Party can win in deep blue areas when we articulate thoughtful, conservative solutions to the problems voters are facing. In Tennessee, we’re in the midst of a Republican revolution at the county and judicial level and we look forward to hearing what lessons we can take from Governor Christie’s track record of success.

Last year, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) headlined the dinner, which raised more than $500,000 for the state party. Other past speakers include former Vice President Dick Cheney, 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.). 

Christie is still grappling with an ongoing investigation into his administration’s role in controversial bridge closures as possible political retaliation. The fallout has damaged his position in many national polls, but he’s kept up his fundraising schedule on behalf of the RGA and others.