ELECTION 2016

By Ashley Parker and Maggie Haberman

Chris Christie and Marco Rubio Get Pajama Time at Mitt Romney’s House

Chris Christie announcing his endorsement of Mitt Romney for president in Lebanon, N.H., in 2011.Cheryl Senter for The New York Times
Mitt Romney is having a slumber party this weekend at his New Hampshire compound with some very interesting guests: Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, along with their families.
The sleepover party Friday night at Mr. Romney’s summer vacation spot in Wolfeboro, N.H., came about when the 2012 Republican presidential nominee realized that the two current hopefuls would be campaigning in the area during the holiday weekend.
“Governor Romney heard that his friends, Governor Christie and Senator Rubio, along with their families, would be in Wolfeboro over the July 4th holiday weekend,” an aide to Mr. Romney said. “He and Mrs. Romney opened their home to their friends and look forward to celebrating America’s birthday.”
Mr. Romney, who almost jumped into the 2016 presidential race for his third try at the White House, remains a coveted surrogate for Republicans and a person whose approval carries weight with donors.
The visit by Mr. Christie, first reported by The Washington Post, comes days after he announced his presidential run and as he is trying to shake off a difficult six months in which his poll numbers have fallen. Mr. Christie is struggling to keep donors by his side after Jeb Bush‘s entrance into the race and after lingering fallout from the scandal over the George Washington Bridge lane closings.
Aides to both Mr. Romney and Mr. Christie have never completely gotten over a rift in the 2012 race, when Mr. Christie, despite being a key supporter, declined to campaign with Mr. Romney in the final week of the campaign after Hurricane Sandy ravaged his state. Instead, the governor warmly embraced President Obama as the two toured the ravaged New Jersey coast together.
Both moves infuriated Mr. Romney’s aides. But the two men have remained in touch, and this weekend Mr. Christie is bringing along his wife, Mary Pat, and two sons.
Mr. Rubio, for his part, has been making efforts to court Mr. Romney’s financial support and also some of his advisers. A former top campaign aide to Mr. Romney, Rich Beeson, is deputy campaign manager for Mr. Rubio, and Wayne Berman, a Republican bundler, joined Mr. Rubio’s team early. And Terry Sullivan, Mr. Rubio’s campaign manager, also worked for Mr. Romney’s 2008 presidential bid.
At a campaign stop in Tilton, N.H., Mr. Christie said it was too early to ask for Mr. Romney’s endorsement.
“I was the first governor to endorse Gov. Romney in 2011, and I endorsed him in October,” he said. “So it’d probably be bad form for me to ask him to do it any time earlier than that.”
“We’ll talk whatever our host wants to talk about,” Mr. Christie said of his planned evening with Mr. Romney. “You know me, I’m kind of the shy and retiring type, I’ll sit back and let the conversation come to me.”
Campaign aides to another candidate who is in New Hampshire this holiday weekend, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, were not aware of any plans for him to meet with Mr. Romney. The two men met privately in Utah in January, when Mr. Romney was still considering entering the race.
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