James Wellford

James Wellford writes and blogs about New Jersey politics.

Two weeks ago, after some pundits had argued that Chris Christie had already smartly pivoted from his scandals, I quoted former South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson's unwanted advice. Dawson worried that Christie's problems could infect the Republican Governors Association, the fundraising behemoth ($50.3 million in the bank, $22.3 million more than the Democrats) that was already heading for a tough year of bailing out GOP chiefs in Pennsylvania, Maine, Florida, and Dawson's own South Carolina.

"This all has the potential to affect the RGA and governor's races if it grows any more legs, like it has with the Hoboken mayor. Mark Sanford is a guy who resigned and didn’t want any of his scandal embroiled around the RGA. Now, nobody’s called for that from Christie. But if we’ve got two, three more scandals, that’s the concern I’ve got."

Dawson's warning got little attention; defeated Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli got only a little more when he said the same thing. But today, Murray Waas furthers the story and asks some worried Republicans if Christie can stay atop the RGA.