ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ripped into California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday, calling him an "old retread" and suggesting – to the delight of California Republicans – that his own election in a Democratic state is proof Republicans in California could rebound.

"I cannot believe you people elected Jerry Brown over Meg Whitman," Christie told state delegates on a rain-soaked morning at the Republican National Convention. "Jerry Brown. Jerry Brown? I mean, he won the New Jersey presidential primary over Jimmy Carter when I was 14 years old."

The combative Christie, who is scheduled to deliver the keynote speech at the convention tonight, overcame a Democratic voter registration advantage in New Jersey to win election in 2009.

He has enacted billions of dollars in spending cuts to balance that state's budget, and his bombastic style and outspoken criticism of public employee unions and teachers, among other groups, has made him popular among conservatives nationwide.

For a California delegation dogged by questions about its ability to reverse years of declining voter registration and electoral setbacks, Christie's jabs at Brown provided some relief.

"The message I want to deliver to California this morning is: There is hope," Christie said. "Don't give up on the fact that California can be governed. You've seen it governed before, and you've seen it governed effectively. … California once did have great governors, like Gov. Pete Wilson, who knew how to govern the state."

It is not uncommon for Republican politicians to mock California and its Democratic officeholders, nor is it rare for California Republicans to look outside the state for inspiration.

Christie was invited to speak at the California delegation's Monday breakfast meeting. At their beachfront hotel, some delegates staked out positions near the podium more than an hour before Christie spoke. Frustration here with Brown, the 74-year-old, third-term governor, is second only to President Barack Obama.

"He reminded us that we are capable of making California a red state if we believe it and we work hard," said Carol Hadley, 73, a delegate from Stockton and president of the California Federation of Republican Women. "He was uplifting."

Wilson, who governed California in the 1990s, was in the room as Christie spoke. "I think he's given tremendous leadership in what was supposed to be a hopelessly blue state," Wilson said.

Christie compared the challenges facing California and New Jersey, including unemployment, state budget deficits and the lingering effect of the housing crisis. While New Jersey "decided to take a risk on a conservative Republican governor in a blue state," Christie said, "California made the bad choice by going with an old retread."

It is unclear whether the success of a Republican in New Jersey is as transferrable as Christie suggests or as many California Republicans may hope.

Christie benefited from an electorate frustrated not only by the recession, but by a highly unpopular governor, Jon Corzine.

Given California's growing Latino population and its placement on the border, the politics of immigration are more problematic for Republicans in California than in the Garden State. And Christie's style – unlike the more rigid one exhibited by Whitman, who ran against Brown in 2010 and introduced Christie on Monday – appealed viscerally to the New Jersey electorate.

"The environment is quite different," said David Redlawsk, a political science professor at Rutgers University. "This is a guy who fits the New Jersey psyche: I know where I'm going, I'm going to take it there and get out of my way. That really resonated in 2009, because the political leadership in this state seemed very weak."

A year after Christie won election, Brown clobbered Whitman in California, part of a Democratic sweep of statewide races. Republican voter registration in California has fallen to just more than 30 percent.

Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, said while Christie may be "an excellent example of how a red state approach can work in a blue state, … it's not something that's around the next corner for California Republicans."

Still, Schnur said "it's probably good for the delegates to hear some encouragement and to get a reminder that there is a path back."

Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, the House majority whip, told reporters following Christie's address that California is a "tough state."

But he said Republicans are on the verge of a "great California comeback," starting with a series of competitive congressional races and a campaign by conservatives to defeat Brown's November ballot initiative to raise taxes.

Christie said 2012 could be a "launching point" for California Republicans ahead of a challenge of Brown if he runs for re-election in 2014.

"What matters is leadership," Christie said. "What matters is who you vote for next time it comes around for governor. And Jerry Brown is going to establish an awfully failed record. He's already well on his way."

From the West Coast, Brown's office fired back.

"California is leading the nation in job growth while New Jersey's economy has stalled with rising unemployment under Gov. Christie's watch," Brown spokesman Gil Duran said in an email. "It's no wonder Gov. Christie wants to distract from his massive failure with a windstorm of rhetoric."

Though separated by a great distance Monday, Christie and Brown ran into each other earlier this year, at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association. Christie complained to the delegation about Brown's proposal to raise taxes and about their interaction at the association's meeting in Washington, D.C.

"I've got to sit at the National Governor's Association with this guy and have him come up to me and say, 'Gov. Christie, stop telling people that I want to raise taxes. I'm not trying to raise taxes.' And I said, 'Yeah you are, Jerry.' And he said, 'No, no, Chris, I'm not, I want to put them on the ballot and let the people decide.' "

Christie paused to let the audience get over its laughter, and then he said, "Man, that's leadership, isn't it?"

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