President Donald J. Trump’s chief political strategist Bill Stepien summoned New Jersey Republicans to Washington, D.C. yesterday for a lay of the land political meeting at the Executive Office Building.

Stepien cut his teeth as Governor Chris Christie’s campaign bulldog, and now he advises Trump, who has an interest in New Jersey as one of two states that have scheduled gubernatorial contests in November.

Multiple county party chairs were in the room, as were state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. and Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick. State Senators Sam Sam Thompson, Joe Pennacchio and Mike Doherty were in the room. So was new GOP State Chairman Mike Lavery, who earlier today spoke to InsiderNJ.

Lieutenant Govenror Kim Guadagno, the GOP nominee for governor, was in D.C. yesterday, a source said, but she did not attend the political meeting helmed by Stepien.