I was traveling in New Jersey last week and people seemed to think he was spending too much time running for president to pay attention to the state. Sounds like New Jersey voters are taking a closer look at Gov. Chris Christie, and don't like what they see:
TRENTON — A majority of New Jersey voters now have an unfavorable impression of Gov. Chris Christie, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll, with just 42 percent of registered voters carrying a favorable impression of him – the lowest ever recorded by the poll.
By comparison, 45 percent of registered voters rate Christie unfavorably, with most of their ire developing in the last two months, during which he suffered a seven-point decline.
"What had seemed like a small rebound following Christie's Bridgegate ratings collapse now looks more like a temporary blip,” said David Redlawsk, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling and professor of political science at Rutgers University.
While lingering in just-barely-positive territory, Christie's overall job approval rating is also dropping, falling three more points to 49 percent. By comparison, 46 percent of voters surveyed disapproved of his handling of his job, five points more than a January Eagleton poll.
Voters say taxes (24 percent), and the economy’s effect on jobs (21 percent) are their top two concerns, followed by corruption and abuse of power (16 percent) and education (12 percent).
For the past eight months, Christie's ratings have been falling most sharply in three areas: Taxes (down 10 points to 33 percent approval), the economy (down three points to 38 percent) and education (down 10 points to 39 percent).