One day after his party suffered losses in New Jersey's midterm elections, Gov. Chris Christie headed north to stump for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney
Gov. Chris Christie is scheduled to speak at a Mitt Romney New Hampshire campaign event.MANCHESTER, N.H. — One day after his party suffered losses in New Jersey's midterm elections, Gov. Chris Christie headed north to stump for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.
Christie is scheduled to give a pep talk to volunteers at Romney's Manchester campaign office later this afternoon. Then he heads to a house party held by a former state Republican chairman, John Stabile, who is endorsing Romney.
It will be Christie's first campaign appearances on behalf of Romney since endorsing the former Massachusetts governor last month.
Romney has campaigned heavily in New Hampshire, which will hold the country's second nominating contest on Jan. 10. Although Herman Cain shot to the front of the Republican pack, he has been dogged by allegations of sexual harassment, and Romney is widely viewed as the front-runner for the nomination.
Christie's relatively early endorsement -- announced one week after Christie said he would not run for president himself -- was seen as a boost Romney's chances.
"Our campaign is honored to have Gov. Christie in New Hampshire to talk to voters about why Mitt Romney is the best candidate to fix our economy and defeat President Obama in 2012," Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said.
Democrats were quick to criticize Christie's campaign stops.
"This is nothing more than a current governor who failed to create jobs campaigning on behalf of a former governor who failed to create jobs and who famously wanted to let Detroit go bankrupt," said Melanie Roussell, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.
Later tonight Christie will drive to Boston, where he will watch the CNBC presidential debate at Romney's national campaign headquarters. Williams said the campaign is footing the bill for Christie's trip.
Republicans in New Jersey have had a difficult week, falling short in several hotly contested legislative races. They lost one Assembly seat, and Democrats remain firmly in control of the Legislature.
Speaking to reporters earlier today in Sussex County, Christie said he will keep his appearances on Romney's behalf limited to one or two a month because he's busy in Trenton.
He said Republicans will coalesce around Romney in the coming months.
"I think as the campaign continues to go on, I think it becomes clearer and clearer that Gov. Romney is the strongest candidate for the Republican party to take on President Obama," Christie said.
Staff writer Seth Augenstein contributed to this report.
Related coverage:
• Gov. Christie to visit New Hampshire, Boston in support of presidential candidate Mitt Romney
• Gov. Christie to hold fundraiser for Mitt Romney in N.J.
• Gov. Christie: Romney 'is the man we need to lead America'
• Editorial: Chris Christie endorses Mitt Romney, picking the moderate most like him