Christie, Booker Share Dozens of Donors from Wall Street to Silicon Valley

Five dozen wealthy donors from Wall Street to Silicon Valley have placed their bets on both of New Jersey’s big political stars — Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker — this campaign season, a Star-Ledger review of state and federal records shows.

 
When the governor and the mayor hit the fundraising circuit in California this year, they collected maximum donations from many of the same tech moguls at gatherings hosted by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, a friend to both men.
 
When they were home in the Garden State, the two celebrity politicians drew big checks from the same prominent real estate brokers and land developers.
 
And in New York, Kenneth Langone, the Republican billionaire who pushed Christie to run against President Obama in the 2012 race, has given $5,200 to Booker’s campaign for U.S. Senate this year and $3,800 to Christie’s re-election effort.
 
In all, 59 people in four states have given to both candidates this year, The Star-Ledger review found. From that donor base, Booker has received $300,550 and Christie has drawn $212,000 — a small portion of their total fundraising hauls: $8.6 million for the mayor and nearly $7 million for the governor.