Rendell, Corzine set to team up

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - March 10, 2008

Corzine, the New Jersey governor, and Rendell, the Pennsylvania governor, both support Clinton.

Rendell said Sunday on "Meet the Press" that he and Corzine would help raise half the $30 million needed to hold new elections in the states.

"And given all the money that the Obama campaign and the Clinton campaign are spending, I think they can dig in, and their supporters can dig in, to their pockets and help the states of Michigan and Florida have a revote," Rendell said.

Clinton is in a tight race with Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.

She won Florida and Michigan but the national Democratic party stripped the states of delegates because they moved their primaries up earlier than allowed.

"The governor has contended for a little while now that he didn't think it was prudent or proper to disenfranchise two of the larger states in the process, and the only way to remedy that would be through a revote," Corzine spokesman Jim Gardner said. "But at the same time the governor does not believe the taxpayers should have to shoulder the burden in those particular states."

Gardner said whether Corzine starts helping raise the money will depend on how the national Democratic Party decides to handle Florida and Michigan.

"I think that would have to be determined, and would have to be determined with some degree of certainty of what needed to be raised," Gardner said.

Corzine, a multimillionaire from running investment firm Goldman Sachs, has spent $100 million of his own money to become governor and U.S. senator. He's also donated more than $8 million to Democratic Party causes since entering politics in 1999.

Gardner said Corzine would be willing to contribute but had no estimate of how much he might be willing to donate.

"He would certainly be willing to contribute, but by no means a majority amount," Gardner said. "He's indicated probably something of a more modest sum."

Gardner said he had no estimate of how much Corzine might be willing to contribute.

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