That’s the question the Washington Post’s Sean Sullivan asks as the New Jersey Governor faces the task of replacing the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg in the U.S. Senate. The New York Times notes the decision is “fraught with pitfalls” and reports Christie’s fear of Newark Mayor Cory Booker appearing on the same ballot as his own re-election is driving the decision. Meanwhile, Christie is cashing in donations from top Democratic fundraisers and other traditionally liberal donors across the country. According to the Star-Ledger, the checks are flying into the Republican governor’s war chest from all sorts of unlikely places — the hedge fund run by liberal billionaire George Soros, for example, and the politically progressive halls of the University of California, Berkeley. The nascent support from Democratic donors is an early sign of Christie’s fundraising prowess in a potential run for the White House in 2016.