A new Democracy Corps (D) poll of the New Jersey gubernatorial campaign suggests that it could be a very close race, though Republican former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie still leads Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.
Christie has 43%, Corzine 41%, and independent candidate Chris Daggett is at 7%. In a two-way race — support for independents can often evaporate going into Election Day, so this is an important number — Christie leads by 46%-43%. In the last poll from two weeks ago, Christie led in the three-way race by 40%-35%-10%, and Christie led the two-way race by 43%-37%.
The pollster’s analysis suggests that New Jersey’s fundamental Democratic partisanship could shift this race back to Corzine: “The Republican brand continues to be an anchor for Christie in the state. The Republican Party’s favorability rating remains decidedly negative, with just 32 percent of New Jersey voters rating it favorably against 43 percent who give it a negative rating. On the generic state legislative ballot, the Democratic candidates hold an 8-point edge on the Republicans, 45 to 37 percent.”
