By The Staff | The Save Jersey Blog
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno‘s new 501(c)(4) organization, ‘Building a Better NJ Together’ (BBNJT), a think tank helmed by Chris Christie’ former campaign manager and a coalition of business and building trades leaders, premiered in a big way in her home county of Monmouth on Thursday night, Save Jerseyans.
The crowd of 400+ – described as “solid” by one attendee – included Christie World alumni (donors, volunteers and operatives) and a majority of GOP county chairs but also new faces including some Tea Party activists from Northern Jersey and a strong showing from minority coalition groups.
Egalitarian as the audience assembled at Eagle Oaks in Farmingdale appeared, the “policy discussion” roundtable VIP reception priced at $5,000 a head was steep for most attendees.
The $150 per person event saw a less substantive but reportedly moving and personal Lieutenant Governor.
The Iowa native waxed over how she lived ‘twenty different places in twenty-five years’ as a child, lacking friends and roots, but had found a home in New Jersey and found herself ‘heartbroken’ over the financial disincentive for others to stay in the Garden State. There were several spontaneous applause breaks and the affection for the affable former sheriff was palpable.
Long after she finished talking, the LG and about 100 attendees lingered to chat and swap contact information.
Guadagno is widely considered the frontrunner for the 2017 Republican gubernatorial nomination.
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