Sherrill has huge approvals among Democrats, poll shows

Gov. Mikie Sherrill has an 83%-5% favorable rating among Democrats in New Jersey, according to a poll conducted by GQR for Democratic powerbroker George E. Norcross III.

That’s eight points better than U.S. Senator Cory Booker, who has favorables of 75%-14% among Democrats in his home state.

“New Jersey’s Democratic primary voters give Governor Mikie Sherrill extremely strong marks that place her popularity well above many national and statewide Democrats,” the GQR polling memo noted. “Sherrill has incredibly strong standing with primary voters – 83 percent rate her favorably and only 5 percent unfavorably. Sherrill is remarkably popular with her partisan base as she begins her tenure as governor.”

Rasmussen said that Sherrill’s early favorables make her more powerful as governor.

“Political capital has its advantages.  Popular executives can leverage it to influence lawmakers and mobilize public opinion for their agenda.  No one in the legislature has this same standing within their party or statewide,” said Rasmussen.  Few will want to cross a governor who does, lest they risk damaging their own standing with rank-and-file Democrats across the state.

The poll also shows an apparent move of New Jersey Democrats toward the left: 29% identified as progressive, 32% as liberal, 25% as moderate, and 7% as conservative.  That pits the progressive + liberal block at almost two-thirds.

There are noticeable but not major differences between the different regions of the state:

* North Jersey: 35% progressive, 28% liberal, 25% moderate, and 5% conservative;
* Central and South Jersey: 22% progressive, 35% liberal, 27% moderate, and 8% conservative.

Among the Democrats polled, Bernie Sanders comes out as most popular: 86%-7%; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is at 72%-10%, Gavin Newsom is at 61%-15%; Josh Shapiro is at 51%-12%, and J.B. Pritzker is at 38%-6%.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who finished second to Sherrill in last year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, 34%-21%, has statewide favorables of 50%-6% among Democrats.

“Sherrill has extremely strong standing that sets her apart,” GRQ said in its memo.

A Monmouth University poll conducted in April 2018 showed New Jersey’s newly-elected Gov. Phil Murphy with favorables of 64%-9% among Democrats.  Gov. Chris Christie had favorables of 63%-5% among Republicans in February 2010, and in April 2006, Gov. Jon Corzine’s job approval among Democrats was 48%-24%.

The GQR poll was conducted from February 22-26 with a sample size of 501 Democratic primary voters in New Jersey with a margin of error of +/- 4.4%.