Christie’s approval rating drops lower than ever, poll shows

Bad news for Gov. Chris Christie. The latest poll numbers show that New Jerseyans are more dissatisfied than ever with the job the governor is doing and they feel the state is headed in the wrong direction.

By an almost 2-to-1 margin the registered voters in a Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) PublicMind poll released Wednesday disapproved of the job Gov. Chris Christie is doing. Also by a nearly 2-to-1 margin they felt the state is headed in the wrong direction. Both of those figures represent the worst ever numbers for Christie in an FDU PublicMind survey.

“Our new survey of registered voters in the state puts the governor’s job approval at 34 percent,” said Krista Jenkins, professor of political science at FDU and director of PublicMind. “Over half (56 percent) currently disapprove of the job Christie is doing as governor. This is the highest number we’ve ever registered for disapproval for his job performance.”

Republicans were the only poll respondents who gave Christie positive approval numbers. The break down included:

• 51 percent of Republicans approve of the job Christie is doing while 37 percent disapprove
• 73 percent of Democrats disapprove. 22 percent approve
• 52 percent of independents disapprove. 30 percent approve
• 53 percent of men disapprove. 35 percent approve
• 59 percent of women disapprove. 34 percent approve
• 74 percent of union households disapprove. 20 percent approve

The news was pretty grim when it came to the public’s perception of the state’s overall health.

“Thirty-two percent say the state is headed in the right direction with 59 percent who believe the state is doing poorly. This is the highest number we’ve recorded for concern over the state’s direction since the governor took office,” Jenkins pointed out.

Support for Christie’s presidential run is also dropping in the Garden State. Only nine percent say they’d support the governor, a number that is exactly half of where it was in June, Donald Trump leads the pack with 31 percent of Republicans supporting him.

The poll was conducted by telephone from Nov. 9 -15, 2015 among a random statewide sample of 830 self-identified registered voters. The margin of error is +/- 3.9 points.

Kevin McArdle has covered the State House for New Jersey 101.5 news since 2002. Contact him at kevin.mcardle@townsquaremedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @kevinmcardle1.