Christie’s Job Approval Hits New Low, Ratings Across the Board Continue to Slip
Trump still leads 2016 GOP field in New Jersey, Christie reclaims second
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Gov. Chris Christie may be on the rise in New Hampshire, but his numbers continue to fall with voters back home, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. Christie’s overall job approval has slipped to its lowest point yet: 33 percent of New Jersey registered voters now approve of his performance, a drop of six points since October, and 62 percent disapprove, up six points. This represents voters’ strongest disapproval of Christie’s job performance to date.
Likewise, 33 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of Christie, the second lowest rating he has ever received. Christie’s unfavorable rating is back at its all-time high of 59 percent after a small improvement in October. Since August, every poll has consistently found more than half of New Jersey voters in the unfavorable column.
“Governor Christie’s good fortune and favorables may be improving on the national campaign trail, but it’s just the opposite in New Jersey,” said Ashley Koning, assistant director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University. “Ever since Christie announced his official 2016 run, he has received his lowest ratings as governor – even lower than in the year post-Bridgegate.”
Christie fares no better on individual issues. His rating on the perennial top issue – taxes – hits another new low: now 23 percent approve while 71 percent disapprove. He also reaches new lows on the economy and jobs (30 percent approve, 63 percent disapprove), the state budget (25 percent approve, 63 percent disapprove), the state pension fund situation (21 percent approve, 66 percent disapprove) and education (33 percent approve, 59 percent disapprove).
More voters also disapprove of Christie’s work on crimes and drugs (40 percent approve, 46 percent disapprove), as well as transportation and infrastructure (30 percent approve, 58 percent disapprove). Voters continue to be closely divided on his handling of Sandy recovery – 48 percent approve, 44 percent disapprove – a far cry from the near-unanimous approval he received through most of 2013.
The only bright spot for Christie at home is his return to second place for the 2016 Republican nomination among New Jersey Republican and GOP-leaning registered voters. Christie now stands at 14 percent. Donald Trump remains Republicans’ top choice at 30 percent.
Six in 10 New Jersey Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters continue to prefer former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as their 2016 nominee.
Results are from a statewide poll of 843 adults contacted by live callers on both landlines and cell phones from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6, 2015, including 700 registered voters reported on in this release. The registered voter sample has a margin of error of +/-4.1 percentage points. Interviews were done in English and, when requested, Spanish. To learn more, click here.
EDITOR’S NOTE: ATTENTION POLITICAL, ASSIGNMENT EDITORS, Poll Assistant Director Ashley Koning may be contacted at 908-872-1186 (cell), 848-932-8940 (office), or akoning@rutgers.edu. Poll Director David Redlawsk may be reached at 319-400-1134 (cell) or redlawsk@rutgers.edu. Questions and tables are available at http://eagletonpoll.rutgers.edu/rutgers-eagleton-Christie-ratings-2016-Dec2015. Find all releases at http://eagletonpoll.rutgers.edu, and visit our blog at http://eagletonpollblog.wordpress.com for additional commentary. Follow the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RutgersEagletonPoll and Twitter @EagletonPoll.