Chris Christie and Bridgegate – 69% in NJ don’t believe him

The majority of New Jerseyans still think Gov. Chris Christie has not come clean about his role in the Bridgegate scandal, according to a Monmouth University poll released Monday.

"Sixty-nine percent say that Chris Christie has not been completely honest about what he knew. In fact a majority of Garden State Republicans, 52 percent, now say that Christie has not been completely honest about what he knows," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Overall, 50 percent of New Jerseyans believe that Christie was personally involved in the decision to close the toll lanes.

Less than one in 10 think David Wildstein, Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly were the only ones responsible for the decision to close the access lanes. Thirty-three percent said the conspiracy was limited to just a few others, but 22 percent feel the conspiracy was fairly widespread throughout the Christie administration.

The poll of 500 New Jersey residents was conducted from Friday through Sunday. On May 1, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced charges in the scandal that closed access lanes to the George Washington Bridge without warning in September 2013, tying up traffic for days.

The governor's approval ratings also took a beating.

The poll shows 35 percent of New Jersey residents approve of the job Christie's doing while 54 percent disapprove. Among the state's registered voters, 35 percent approve and 56 percent disapprove.

"This is an all-time low for Chris Christie in our polls. That 35 percent approval number sliced in half the high point of 70 percent that he reached right after Hurricane Sandy," Murray said.

The governor's job approval rating stood at 48 percent approve to 44 percent disapprove among all residents in a February survey.

The new poll breaks down along partisan lines:

• 65 percent of republicans approve of the job Christie's doing, 32 percent disapprove;
• 19 percent of democrats approve of the job he's doing, 69 percent disapprove;
• 34 percent of independents approve of the job he's doing, 54 percent disapprove.

Te poll was conducted by telephone with 500 New Jersey adults, including 441 registered voters, from May 1 to 3, 2015. The total sample has a margin of error of + 4.4 percent and the registered voter sample has a margin of error of + 4.7 percent.