Illinois gubernatorial candidates State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) and Bruce Rauner rubbed elbows with embattled New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during the East Coast politician's visit to Chicago Tuesday. 

Rauner had a private meeting with Christie Tuesday afternoon, while Brady attended the New Jersey governor's sole public event for the day. Christie came to Chicago to raise money for the Republican Governor's Association (RGA), which he has chaired since last fall.

Christie assisted Brady in his last run for governor against Pat Quinn and the RGA is expected to help the candidate that wins the primary election.

Christie said Illinois' Republican candidates for governor should remain diligent in their pursuit of the job, despite the state's status as a firmly Blue state.

“Well, listen, have faith, baby,” he said. “I won twice in New Jersey. That’s what I’d say to them. It can happen.”

During the public event, Christie was questioned about the September lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that have put Christie in political hot water. The four days of lane closures on the Fort Lee bridge were allegedly political payback against the city's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, who opted against endorsing Christie for re-election. At today's event, the New Jersey governor reiterated his claim that he had no knowledge of the plan to close lanes on the bridge and continued to place the blame squarely on his staff, some of whom has since been fired.

“People who work for me made some significant mistakes in judgment. And when you’re the leader of that organization and you’re confronted with that, the first thing that happens to you — what happened to me — was extraordinary disappointment," Christie said at the Economic Club of Chicago. "Extraordinary disappointment that people that I had trusted had made such bad judgments and had not told the truth.”

Due to the scandal, a number of Republicans have opted to stay away from Christie during his fundraising tour.