NJ to Christie: So long, and thanks for nothing
Chris Christie delivers his final State of the State speech today, before stepping down as governor next week.
As he prepares to say goodbye, a new Rutgers-Eagleton poll finds most Garden State residents think he’s done a poor job governor, and many are happy to see him leave.
“While 5 percent say they’re going to miss Christie, 49 percent, almost half of New Jerseyans, said they’re glad to see him go — and don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” said Ashley Koning, the director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
The poll finds 44 percent of state residents wish him well as he leaves office.
Koning also said when New Jerseyans were asked about the governor’s accomplishments, "residents mostly think that he’s either made the state worse or really hasn’t improved anything. Forty percent say worse, (and) 37 percent say he’s leaving New Jersey about the same.”
“He’s leaving office now with his lowest favorability number on record and one of his lowest job approval numbers on record ever," she said.
The poll finds Christie will leave office with a 19 percent approval rating, and a 13 percent favorability score.
Koning noted Christie's miserable numbers are in stark contrast to 2012 and 2013, after Superstorm Sandy, when his approval number were some of the highest ever — up around 70 percent.
“But then came Bridgegate, his failed presidential run and being out of the state for extended periods of time for various occasions,” she said.
The poll also gives Christie bad grades in a number of specific areas.
“When we asked New Jerseyans to assign him a letter grade for his overall performance throughout the last 8 years, they say he does about a D+ job,” said Koning. While 20 percent of New Jerseyans give Christie a “D,” 30 percent give him an “F”.
“Just 2 percent actually give him an 'A' for his performance and another 10 percent gave him a 'B,'" Koning said.
She said when asked about Christie’s work in education, school, jobs crime and drugs “residents gave him a C-, and for transportation infrastructure he got a D+.”
When it comes to fiscal issues, “whether it’s the state budget, the state pension fund situation or especially taxes, all of these issues get a D from residents in terms of how the governor has done in the past 8 years," she said.
On taxes Christie got an “F” from 44 percent of respondents, while 20 percent gave him a “D”.
For the poll, a total of 1,203 adults were contacted by live callers on both landlines and cell phones, from Nov. 15 through 27. The poll has a margin of error of +/-3.0 percentage points. Interviews were done in English and, when requested, Spanish.
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You can contact reporter David Matthau at David.Matthau@townsquaremedia.com