BANGOR — Just more than three months since his last visit, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie returned to Maine on Tuesday to help raise money for Gov. Paul LePage and predicted that the Republican Governors Association would spend millions of dollars in the state this fall to help LePage win a second term.

Christie, who leads the RGA, called LePage a “personal friend,” applauded his leadership in aiding Maine’s economy and pledged financial help from his organization.

“We are going to spend what we think we need to spend in order to win,” he said during a campaign stop at a Bangor aircraft repair company, C&L Aviation Group, before heading to fundraisers for the Maine Republican Party and LePage in Dedham.

Christie’s visit came as the RGA released its first television advertisement for Le-Page, touting the governor’s first-term record, including delivering the biggest tax cut in state history and paying more than $400 million owed to Maine hospitals.

Christie has called the three-person race between LePage, Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud and independent Eliot Cutler one of top five races in the country this year for the RGA, which spent about $1.8 million in Maine in 2010. The Democratic Governors Association spent about $490,000.

On Tuesday, Christie criticized Michaud’s “Washington approach” to governing and heralded LePage’s leadership for policies that have helped Maine businesses, like C&L, grow. LePage pushed to extend a sales-and-use tax exemption for aircraft parts, helping the add dozens of employees and undergo a $5 million expansion over the last several years.

Democrats seized on Christie’s visit to slam what they called the two governors’ “failed economic records.” They pointed to a number of LePage’s decisions they say have hurt Maine, such as delaying voter-approved bonds and political maneuvering that resulted in a Norwegian company’s decision to scrap a planned $120 million wind project off the state’s coast.

Danny Kanner, spokesman for the Democratic Governors Association, said defeating LePage remains a top priority for the organization.

“Ensuring that the embarrassment and economic failure of the LePage administration finally comes to an end is something that we are committed to making a reality,” he said.