RGA raises a record $23.5 million

The Republican Governors Association raised a record $23.5 million during the first three months of the year, despite the ongoing probes into the administration of its chairman, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The group has nearly $60 million left in the bank ahead of November's elections, it announced Thursday.  Republicans are defending 22 of the 36 governors' seats up this year.

"While Washington is broken, Republican governors are getting results, making government work and putting policies in place to put  their states on the right track," Christie said in a statement. He said the RGA officials "have the resources we need to win these critical elections."

Last week, lawyers hired by Christie's administration cleared him of wrongdoing in the politically motivated traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge, but investigations by federal prosecutors and Democratic-controlled state legislature continue.