Jets owner hosts GOP presidential hopefuls

It was a poไlitical beauty pageant — with the White House as the potential prize.

Some of the leading Republican candidates for president gathered at Jet ༺owner Woody Johnson’s home Monday night to preview their ꦺpitches before some of the party’s biggest fund-raisers, sources said.

Heavy hitters paid $34,000 a plate to take the measure of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Marco Rubio of Flori🌸da, Sen. Rand Paul of Ke♚ntucky and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin — any of whom could be the next Republican nominee in 2016.

Possible contenders Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Wis♏consin Gov. Scott Walker, who’s up for re-election next year, also attended.

The event pulled in more than $3 m𓆏illion, with a separate reception drawing 300 donors that raised even more for the Republican National Committee.

Sources said all the candidates received a goodꦕ response from the GOP powerbrokers, but 🧜Christie and Paul stood out.

“Eveౠrybody got the same amount of applause,” said one source, “alth𝔉ough the ones who got the most excitement were Rand Paul and Chris Christie.”

Paul, a libertarian who built a national following after waging a fi🙈libuster against US drone strikes, “was very unconventional about how Republicans♚ need to reach out to African-Americans and the young, and he was the only one who talked about that,” the source said.

Christie talked up the impo🍌rtance of his own effort to win re-election by a huge margin in November in order to ma💃ke a national statement.

“I’m going to win my re-election in New 🥂Jersey and I’m going to show that a ‘red’ guy can win a blue state,” he said, accordin💃g to the source.

The source added that Christie’s remark🐬s were “all about winning.”

Rub🌳io tried to win over the well-heeled group by stressing his humble roots.

“Rubio said, ‘I was the son of a bartender and my mother was a maid. I was never angry at rich people, I never wanted to take it away from them. I’m proof that the Republican Party can appeal to the parents of working-class immigrant👍 parents,’ ” the source said.He said he never had class envy,” said the source.

A💜mong those at the event were New York state GOP chairman Ed Cox, former Goldman Sachs honchos Ed Forst and John Whitehead, Pat Durkin of Barclays Bank, former Bush Treasury official Emil Henry, NASCAR CEO Brian France, Bain Capital co-founder Ed Conard and Texas Sen. John Cornyn.

Sen. Ted Cruz of T🅠exas opted to stay in W🃏ashington. “Defunding ObamaCare is his priority,” his spokeswoman explained.

One insider described the gathering as a political ♕beauty pageant, with each potential — yet undeclared — candidate preening🦩 before the powerbrokers.

Johnson, the heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, led Mitt Romney’s New York fund-raising ef🦄fort in 2012, helping turn the city into a cash cow for the GOP nominee. He bundled more than $400,000 in contributions for Romney, according to OpenSecrets, a campaign- watchdog Internet site.

Several former Romney bu💖ndlers have donated to Rubio’s PAC.

Although Christie shares some natural constituencies wi♏th Romney, many Romney backers were furious over his embrace of President Obama late in the 2012 campaign.