Polling at zero percent nationally, Christie is the most unpopular potential GOP presidential candidate

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has upside-down favorables of 21%-47% nationally, the highest unfavorable rating of any of the ten announced and potential GOP presidential candidates, according to a new poll of Republicans released today by the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Donald Trump leads Ron DeSantis by 24 percentage points 42%-19%, in an unprompted survey of first-choice candidates; Christie registers at zero percent nationally and is the only candidate to have a net negative approval rating.

Asked who would be the strongest general election candidate against Joe Biden, 45% say definitely Trump and 18% believe it’s probably Trump; 19% think it’s probably another candidate, and 13% said it was definitely someone other than Trump.

“If your main argument to Republican voters is that Trump wouldn’t be the party’s strongest nominee, you’ve got a heck of a challenge ahead of you,” said Patrick Murray, the Monmouth University Polling Institute director.

Six other candidates are far behind and barely registering: Mike Pence and Tim Scott at 3%, and Ted Cruz, Nikki Haley, Rand Paul, and Vivek Ramaswamy are at 1%.  Besides Christie, Asa Hutchinson, Chris Sununu, and Glenn Youngkin registered at less than 1%, if at all.   North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who might join the race, was not included in the poll.

“There’s a bit of a chicken and egg problem with assessing electability. As we found in our polling during the 2020 Democratic primaries, if voters back a candidate based on issues or character they also tend to feel that candidate is the most electable,” Murray said.  “However, this still underscores the larger point in this poll. If your message to voters who support Trump is he cannot win, you are going to hit a brick wall. Even if you eat into the group who thinks he is only ‘probably’ the strongest candidate, you may still not capture enough of the Republican electorate to overcome Trump’s hardcore base support.”

The New York Times reported today that a group of Christie backers are forming a super PAC, Tell It Like It Is, with Bill Palatucci, the Republican National Committeeman from New Jersey, serving as chair.  Two longtime Christie advisors, Mike DuHaime and Maria Comella, are expected to run Christie’s campaign.

Palatucci has been calling GOP county chairs in New Jersey to assess the former two-term governor’s standing among party leaders.  Christie had all 21 county chairs when he ran in 2016.

Former Trump White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci will be with Christie, the Times reported.

Christie will have a tough time in his home state if he runs.  A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll earlier this month showed that 70% of New Jersey Republicans wouldn’t vote for him no matter who was running against him.

The Monmouth Poll was conducted ay May 18-24 with a sample size of 655 registered voters who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party.  The margin of error is +/- 5.5%.