Gov. Chris Christie, as a friend and adviser to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, is gearing up to lead New Jersey's delegation to the Cleveland convention this week, but some of the state's leading GOP figures won't be following him there.
The division in the New Jersey Republican party's ranks comes as Christie, who was passed over this week after being vetted to be Trump's running mate in favor of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, enters the final year of his second term as governor.
Former governors Tom Kean Sr. and Christie Todd Whitman have distanced themselves from Trump and have said it would be difficult to support their party's nominee. Kean said he's not going to the convention; Whitman, after saying she may vote for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, says she wants a viable third-party candidate to emerge.
The convention hits at a politically volatile time in New Jersey: Christie has stopped transportation projects over a disagreement about how to pay for the transportation trust fund; a top former appointee and mentor pleaded guilty Thursday to federal bribery charges for using his role as chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for personal gain; and the George Washington Bridge lane closure case is headed for court in September.
Whitman and Kean are not alone in backing away from Trump. Nationally, former Republican presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush are not attending the convention and neither is 2012 nominee Mitt Romney.
The lack of support has Trump's backers in New Jersey seeing red.
"I think they're totally out of step, and I think you have to question where they are," said Republican state Sen. Michael Doherty, who backed Trump even before Christie and is attending the convention for the first time as a Trump delegate. "I guess we don't need them."
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Christie has said he backed Trump because he's a long-time friend and that the businessman can beat Clinton.
Some Republicans sitting out of the convention and not embracing Trump is a sign of just how split the Republican Party is, said Montclair State University political science professor Brigid Harrison. She pointed to the Bushes as proof that the dislike of Trump reaches wider than just New Jersey.
"To a great extent New Jersey is a microcosm of what's going on in the Republican Party nationally," Harrison said.
Some New Jersey Republicans are splitting the difference, attending the convention but not fully supporting Trump.
Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr., the former governor's son, said he's "undecided at this juncture," and declined to detail why. But he added that the convention gives state Republicans a chance to network and build bridges beyond just the presidential contest.
"Conventions are always fascinating," Kean Jr. said. "Not only are they hundreds of people from New Jersey and thousands from around the country getting together to discuss the party and races in the nation and around the states, it's fun to catch up with people who you only see every four years."
