New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s approval rating has hit 35 percent in the Garden State in a new Fairleigh Dickinson poll - the lowest rating the PublicMind poll has measured since he took office.
Fifty-one percent disapprove of Mr. Christie’s performance - also the highest disapproval that’s been recorded in the poll from PublicMind, the university’s survey research center.
Mr. Christie waved off a recent spate of bad press at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, saying he doesn’t listen to “elite folks” in the media who try to “kill” him “every day.”
“And here is the bad news for them: here I am, and I am still standing,” he said.
Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and director of PublicMind, the university’s survey research center, said a central question on everyone’s mind is how Mr. Christie can run for the Republican presidential nomination with voters back home largely unhappy with what they’re seeing.
“If he’s defined by his record, these numbers will make an already difficult journey harder,” she said. “If, however, he’s able to define himself to Republicans nationally through his accomplishments, like tenure and pension reform among teachers, and winning reelection with support from key demographics as a Republican in a Democratic state, the next year could be better for the governor.”
The survey of 790 registered voters was conducted from Feb. 23-March 1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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