Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal has become the first Republican governor to defy Chris Christie by helping cash-strapped Rob Astorino raise funds to challenge Gov. Andrew Cuomo, The Post has learned.
Jindal, like New Jersey’s Christie a potential presidential candidate in 2016, agreed last week to host a big-ticket fundraiser for Westchester County Executive Astorino in Manhattan on Oct. 16, 2¹/₂ weeks before Election Day and in time to help fund a last-minute TV blitz to bolster Astorino’s financially hard-pressed campaign.
“Governor Jindal believes this race is winnable by Rob, and he wants to come in, and he’ll be doing the fundraising event for us,’’ Astorino spokeswoman Jessica Proud told The Post.
“He has a very good donor list in New York City, and he’s going to be very helpful,’’ she continued.
Jindal’s decision is a “shot across Christie’s bow, and there’s no love lost there,’’ said a prominent New York Republican.
While Christie, head of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), has infuriated New York Republicans with his recent reference to Astorino’s campaign as a “lost cause’’ and his seeming non-aggression pact with Cuomo, other GOP governors are also soon expected to defy him and campaign in the state.
Among GOP governors planning to campaign — and raise funds — on Astorino’s behalf are Mike Pence of Indiana, Rick Perry of Texas and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who has already held one fundraiser for Astorino, officials said.
Proud said Jindal was “aware of Christie’s position’’ when he agreed to help Astorino.
Staff at the Christie-controlled RGA last week refused to answer questions on why they’re not doing anything to help Astorino.
RGA insiders say the silence is Christie’s “Thank you’’ to Cuomo for not criticizing him over the “Bridgegate’’ scandal.
The mystery man behind Rescue New York, the new pro-Astorino super PAC registered with no fanfare or public notice at the state Board of Elections last week, is former state Sen. George Winner, who played an important role in exposing the “Troopergate’’ scandal involving former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Winner, a Southern Tier attorney who retired from the Senate in 2011, said he has gotten a “positive response’’ from “several’’ big-money Republican donors from throughout the nation about helping Astorino but has yet to raise any funds.
Six-figure contributions far in excess of the limits imposed by state law on candidates can be made to super PACs on behalf of a candidate, as long as the PAC doesn’t coordinate its efforts with the campaign of the candidate it backs.
Winner said the names of all contributors to the PAC would be disclosed.
“I spent years advocating for upstate, and I see the Cuomo administration as being worse than any administration that we’ve had in recent years. That’s why I’m doing this,’’ Winner told The Post.
“I’m standing here watching the upstate economy deteriorate, and all I’m hearing are the disingenuous and false pronouncements from the Cuomo administration about how wonderful everything is.’’
Winner said it was “too early to comment’’ on how much money he expects Rescue New York to raise, but he said most of its money would be spent on television advertising on Astorino’s behalf.
“Hopefully, we’ll make an impact,’’ he said.
Republicans were in open rebellion at a recent state committee meeting in Syracuse when Tom Dunham, chief political operative to Senate GOP leader and Cuomo ally Dean Skelos, refused to commit to helping Astorino’s campaign.
“He got torn apart by many county chairs when he refused to give a straight answer as to when Skelos and the senators would publicly declare their support for our nominee,’’ said a GOP leader.