Governor pays back state for flights

TRENTON, N.J. – After taking a beating for more than a day, Gov. Chris Christie agreed Thursday to reimburse the state for personal use of a police helicopter to fly to two of his son’s high school baseball games and a political dinner with GOP donors.

But the governor made no apologies for what he called an effort to be a good father.

Christie, often mentioned as a potential 2012 presidential candidate, said he paid $2,100 and asked the state Republican Party to pay $1,200 to cover the costs – not because he believed he was in the wrong but because the furor had become a distraction from serious matters.

“I want to make sure the public understands that I’m doing this because of the duty I feel to them to have my attention and everyone else’s attention focused 100 percent on the real problems of this state,” he said, “not the political theater and media theater that people enjoy at times.”

Christie’s reversal came a day after a spokesman defended the trips as appropriate and said the governor does not reimburse for security and travel.

Christie has used a helicopter less than other New Jersey governors, such as Jim McGreevey, who took 272 flights during his first 10 months in office, including 14 non-governmental trips. The Democratic Party reimbursed the state $18,200 for those trips after it hit the news.