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Having spent more time campaigning outside New Jersey than spending time in state, Christie got a favorable opinion from 29% of registered voters who responded to the poll.
That's down four points from December and continues a trend that began last August.
Christie’s overall job approval remains at an all-time low of 33%. Meanwhile, 61% -- virtually unchanged since December.
“After six months on the campaign trail and a year of being mostly out of state, Governor Christie is not being welcomed by New Jerseyans with open arms – in fact, quite the opposite,” said Ashley Koning, assistant director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling (ECPIP) at Rutgers University.
“Even during the most contentious moments of his governorship – his polarizing first years in office or in Bridegate’s immediate aftermath – the governor’s numbers never reached the consistent lows we saw throughout his run for president and see now upon his return,” Koning said.
Christie’s favorability is down among partisans of all stripes.
Just 12% of Democrats (down three points) and 25% of independents (down five points) had a favorable opinion of him.
A majority of Republicans are still in his corner, but even they have grown more negative – now at 63% favorable (down seven points) to 25% unfavorable (up five points).
Christie’s overall job approval shows similar patterns.
Democrats (19% approve / 79% disapprove) and Independents (29% approve to 62% disapprove) have held steady.
But Republicans slipped to 62% approva (down seven points) to 30% disapprove (up six points).
Ratings do not differ significantly based on whether respondents were interviewed before or after either the New Hampshire Primary last Tuesday or Christie’s official announcement that he would end his campaign last Wednesday," Kong said.
Christie does slightly better among voters who are male, white, not living in a public union household and those living in ex-urban and Shore counties. Even among these groups, however, he doesn't receive a favorable or approving majority.
“Going into a budget address with such low ratings does not bode well for Christie’s agenda,” noted David Redlawsk, ECPIP director and professor of political science at Rutgers. “There seems little reason for the Democrats who control the Legislature to warmly embrace a governor voters feel so cool about.”
Results are from a statewide poll of 889 adults contacted by live callers on both landlines and cell phones from Feb. 6 to Feb. 15 -- including 758 registered voters reported on in this release. The registered voter sample has a margin of error of +/-3.9 percentage points. Interviews were done in English and, when requested, Spanish.
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