Christie's Favorable Ratings Inching To Lowest For N.J. Governor In Nearly 40 Years

As Gov. Chris Christie campaigns to win over voters in New Hampshire and Iowa, voters In New Jersey are more dissatisfied with him than ever as the governor’s approval numbers have dropped to record lows.

If the trend continues, Christie could ultimately have some of the lowest approval ratings for a New Jersey governor in nearly 40 years.

Just 30 percent of New Jersey registered voters have a favorable opinion of Christie, an 8-point drop since April and less than half his favorable rating following his November 2013 re-election, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.

His unfavorable rating is now 59 percent, an 11-point increase since April. Christie’s favorability has mostly been on a downward spiral since August 2014.

“Governor Christie has not experienced any kind of 2016 announcement ‘bump’ in ratings from voters back home – in fact, quite the opposite,” said Ashley Koning, assistant director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University, in a release.

“While he has yet to challenge the record low job approval of 17 percent logged by Brendan Byrne in April 1977, he is edging toward the lowest ratings recorded for any New Jersey governor over 45 years of Rutgers-Eagleton Polls.”

Gov. Jim Florio’s favorable ratings also plunged to 18 percent in some polls in 1990 after he helped ram through a tax increase through the state Legislature.

Voter dislike for Christie stems from defining traits that have proved both a blessing and a curse for him since taking office.

Asked to justify their negative assessments, 18 percent cite his character, attitude, and image as reasons for their unfavorable feelings; another 10 percent use such terms as untrustworthy, deceitful, and liar, according to the release.

Among the 30 percent who are favorable, 28 percent point to his honesty and straightforwardness, 15 percent like his overall governing style and performance and 14 percent each cite his personality and his attempts to better New Jersey.

Christie’s overall job approval shows a similar collapse over the past year, also reaching a new low after a steady decline since August 2014. He now stands at 37 percent approve - down 4 points - to 59 percent disapprove - up 5 points.

Christie fares no better on individual issues, reaching a new low on approval for Superstorm Sandy recovery – now at 46 percent approve, far below his April 2013 peak of 87 percent. Forty-seven percent currently disapprove of his work in this area, according to the release.

Christie also falls to new lows on education - 34 percent approve, 58 percent disapprove - and crime and drugs: 43 percent approve, 41 percent disapprove.

Results are from a statewide poll of 867 adults contacted by live callers on both landlines and cell phones from July 25 to August 1, including 757 registered voters reported on in this release. The registered voter sample has a margin of error of +/-4.0 percentage points. Interviews were done in English and, when requested, Spanish.