Chris Christie Is (Almost) New Jersey's Most Unpopular Governor

Gov. Chris Christie has hit a new low .... but not just for himself.

Christie's approval rating has dropped to 26 percent, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. Now he's within just 9 points of the lowest approval rating ever recorded since the poll began more than 40 years ago.

Indeed, Gov. Jim Florio hit a low rating of 17 percent approval in 1990, right after he pushed through a very unpopular state income tax increase. His rating did recover by 1993 to 50 percent, but he lost a close re-election race that year to Christie Whitman.

The poll was slightly different when Gov. Brendan Byrne was in office from 1974 to 1982. But even when his popularity dropped sharply after he helped establish the state's first income tax, at least 40 percent of the voters still thought he was doing a "fair" job.

That's a far cry from Christie: 64 percent of registered voters now have an unfavorable opinion toward Christie, up five points since February and now at its highest point yet since Christie first took office.

Christie’s favorability continues to drop among his own party base: 56 percent of Republicans feel favorable toward the governor, a seven-point decline since last polled two months earlier, while 34 percent say they are unfavorable.

Independents and Democrats continue to be mostly unfavorable, at 63 percent and 87 percent, respectively, according to the poll.

Voters are kinder in their ratings to U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez than they are to Christie, even in the face of Menendez’s ongoing federal indictment. While only 29 percent are favorable toward the senior senator, just 32 percent are outright unfavorable, and 39 percent have no opinion.

Not even Republicans reach a majority in their opposition to Menendez, a stark constraint to the nine in 10 Democrats who feel the same about Christie.

Voters are most positive toward U.S. Sen. Cory Booker: 48 percent are favorable, 23 percent are unfavorable, and another 30 percent have no opinion. Sixty-four percent of Democrats, 47 percent of independents, and even 26 percent of Republicans like Booker.

“Among the New Jersey politicians we poll, Governor Christie continues to generate the most negativity among voters, even more so than the state’s currently indicted senator,” said Ashley Koning, assistant director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling (ECPIP) at Rutgers University. “Not even Christie’s backing of Donald Trump has helped him with New Jersey Republicans, who give Trump higher ratings than Christie and are now more likely than ever to vote for Trump come June.”

When voters are asked to justify their ratings on the governor, favorable and unfavorable voters alike point to Christie’s character, his overall job as governor, and his honesty (or lack thereof). Among those favorable, 35 percent like him because of the overall job he is doing, 16 percent mention something about him being honest and trustworthy, 13 percent point to his character and attitude, and 11 percent reference his policy decisions.

Among those unfavorable toward him, 15 percent point to his character, personality, or attitude as the main reason behind their negative rating; another 7 percent specifically say something about his confrontational, bully-like persona, according to the poll.

An additional 15 percent cite Christie’s overall job as governor and governing style. Fourteen percent say he is dishonest and untrustworthy. Other negative reasons include his lack of care for New Jersey (9 percent), his handling of education in general and teachers specifically (8 percent), his policy decisions and actions (7 percent), his ineffectiveness (6 percent), and his handling of unions and state workers (4 percent).

Just 3 percent mention something about his support for Donald Trump as a reason for their unfavorable rating, as do another 3 percent about Christie’s role in the 2016 presidential election, in general.

“Negativity toward Christie continues to grow, but not entirely because of his support for GOP frontrunner Donald Trump or his own involvement with the 2016 election cycle,” said Koning. “Instead, Christie’s unpopularity stems from the same longstanding reasons that voters have cited in both their praise and condemnation of him throughout his tenure – reasons that disenchanted voters emphasize now more than ever two months after Christie’s return to governing full time.”

Results are from a statewide poll of 886 adults contacted by live callers on both landlines and cell phones from April 1 to 8, 2016, including 738 registered voters reported on in this release. Interviews were done in English and, when requested, Spanish.