As he considers a second bid for the presidency, former Gov. Chris Christie remains unpopular in his home state of New Jersey, with upside-down favorables of 26%-64% in a Monmouth University poll released on Tuesday morning.
Seven out of ten New Jerseyans say that Christie would not make a good President, with just 17% saying that he would, the new poll shows.
More than three years after leaving office, Christie’s favorables have improved just slightly. He was at 22%-71% in April 2018.
But Christie’s favorables among Republican have climbed, from an underwater 43%-48% in 2018 to a current standing of 53%-35%.
“The sense that Christie turned his back on New Jersey in pursuit of higher office was the main reason for a sharp drop in his ratings by the time he left office,” said Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “Incidents like Bridgegate or Beachgate serve as vivid memes for this lingering sentiment.”
Most New Jerseyans (42%) think Christie is planning to run for President in 2024, and 59% of adults in the state say they personally don’t want him to run.
Just 16% of Republicans in his home state want Christie to seek the presidency, while 48% say they don’t want him and 36% said they don’t care what he does.
“Christie’s former constituents do not offer a ringing endorsement of his presidential aspirations, but he probably doesn’t care since New Jersey is rarely pivotal in the nomination process,” Murray said. “But these numbers also mean the state is likely to remain solidly blue in the general election even if the ex-governor is on the ballot,”
Half of Garden State Republicans say he would make a good president, 34% of his own party believe he would not.
Christie passed up what may have been his best shot at the GOP nomination in 2012. He ran four years later but dropped out after a dismal sixth place finish in New Hampshire when he won just 7% of the vote
He quickly endorsed Trump and became a cheerleader for the 45th President, but he was passed over for the vice presidential nomination and fired as head of the transition team two days after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.
Still, Christie remained a Trump advisor. He helped Trump prepare for his first debate with Joe Biden, but split with the president after contracting a life-threatening bout with COVID-19 following a maskless appearance at the White House.
One person polled, a 22-year-old independent man from Camden County, said that Christie’s personality is what he remembers most.
“If I had to pick one, it would be his loud mouth,” he said.
The Monmouth University Poll was conducted from April 29 to May 4 with a sample size of 706 New Jersey adults and has a margin of error of +/- 3.7%.
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