Quinnipiac Poll: New Christie Job Approval ‘Lowest Ever’

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) job approval rating among voters in his homestate is the lowest of any governor this year, according to a new Quinnipiac poll released on Monday.

Fifty-six percent of New Jersey voters disapprove of the job Christie is doing while 38 percent said they approve, the new Quinnipiac poll found. Quinnipiac’s release said the finding is the “lowest approval rating ever and the lowest approval rating for any governor this year in the nine states surveyed by Quinnipiac University.”

The new disapproval number is an 8-point increase from another poll taken four months earlier, NJ.com noted. Quinnipiac conducts public opinion surveys in Florida, Connecticut, Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The finding comes as Christie signals interest in jumping into the 2016 presidential race. Last week he unveiled a set of proposed cuts to Social Security and reforms to Medicare in New Hampshire, an early primary state where 2016 hopefuls have begun visiting as the next election cycle begins. A majority of New Jerseyans —70 percent— said that Christie should resign if he decides to run for president while 27 percent said that he shouldn’t resign.

Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said that Christie would not make a good president while 29 percent said that he would make a good president. Similarly, 64 percent said that Christie should not run for president while 33 percent said that he should run for president.

Only 41 of those surveyed said Christie was trustworthy and honest while 52 percent disagreed. Similarly, the same percentage said Christie cares about the needs of New Jersey residents while 56 percent said he does not. Thirty-four percent said they approved of Christie’s handling of the economy while 57 percent said they disapproved. Likewise, 32 percent said they approved of how Christie has handled the state budget while 59 percent said they disapproved.

The silver lining for Christie is that the poll found 63 percent said they see him as a strong leader while 33 percent disagreed.

Among Republicans in New Jersey, 22 percent said they preferred Christie among a list of 2016 Republicans followed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker with 14 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 11 percent, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) with 9 percent).

In a general election matchup against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president, Clinton leads Christie 51 percent to 36 percent, the poll found.

The poll was conducted April 9 to April 14 among 1,428 New Jersey voters. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. Among the 444 Republicans, surveyed the margin of error was plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.