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WASHINGTON (CNN) — Mitt Romney is Jersey bound.
The former Republican presidential nominee will team up with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for a fundraiser benefiting the New Jersey Republican Party next month, sources familiar with the plans told CNN.
The event is billed as a birthday celebration for Christie, who turns 52 next month.
The September 10 fundraiser — co-hosted by Christie allies Bill Palatucci, New Jersey GOP Chairman Sam Raia, state Sen. Tom Kean and Assemblyman Jon Bramnick — will take place in East Brunswick.
Romney is listed as a "special guest."
It's the latest high-profile political move for Romney, who is asserting himself on the 2014 campaign trail as a surrogate in key Senate and House races, and burnishing his reputation among Republicans in the process. It's not the first time the two men have shared a stage together this year -- Christie was invited to address a Romney-hosted donor retreat in Park City in June.
Romney's appearance alongside the New Jersey governor, who is laying groundwork for a 2016 presidential bid, could also signal to Romney's network of financial supporters that Christie remains a viable choice for the Republican nomination in the wake of the Bridgegate scandal that engulfed his administration earlier this year and continues to bubble beneath the surface.
While the Republican donor class hasn't fled from Christie en masse, the scandal tarnished his his early frontrunner status and wounded Christie's golden boy status among establishment money-men.
The birthday fundraiser might also heal some bad blood left over from 2012. Christie and Romney — and their respective loyalists — had a sometimes fraught relationship at times during the presidential race. Christie publicly mulled running against Romney for the GOP nomination, and later infuriated some Republicans just days before the election by teaming up with President Obama for a tour of New Jersey storm damage after Hurricane Sandy, giving the president some important bipartisan luster in full view of the national media.
"We're incredibly thrilled Gov. Romney will be the special guest at Gov. Christie's birthday party this year," Raia and Palatucci said in a statement provided to CNN.
"Governor Romney has long been a supporter of New Jersey Republicans and we are very much looking forward to the honor of having him back to support the state Party and to celebrate this special occasion with all of our guests."
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