Politics & Government

Quinnipiac: Christie Thrashes Buono In New Poll

Christie, with an approval rating of 68 percent, leads governor's race 2-1 over state Sen. Barbara Buono.

Gov. Chris Christie continues to be wildly popular among likely voters, leading by a comfortable 2-1 margin over state Sen. Barbara Buono in this November’s gubernatorial race, according to the latest poll.

Christie leads Buono 61 - 29 percent of likely voters, according to a new poll by Quinnipiac University. The number is roughly unchanged since a June 10 poll by the university.

Christie also has a job approval rating of 68 percent – the highest approval of governors in the nine state’s Quinnipiac surveyed. And a full third, or 66 percent – including 46 percent of Democrats – said Christie should be re-elected, according to the poll.

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Buono’s approval rating is languishing at 25 percent, with another 45 percent saying they don’t know enough about her to form an opinion, the poll says.

"The governor continues to thrash Sen. Buono, but voters say they're not inclined to support legislative candidates because Christie supports them, or, as a matter of fact, because Buono supports them," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a release. 

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Christie leads among women 59 to 30 percent and 64 to 28 percent among men surveyed July 2 – 7. A total of 1,068 voters were surveyed, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points, according to the poll.

Christies not surprisingly picks up 93 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of Independent voters, according to the poll Buono pulls in just 55 percent of Democrats, according to the poll.

Even the governor’s veto of a marriage equality bill hasn’t hurt him. According to the poll, New Jersey voters support a state law allowing same-sex marriage 60 - 31 percent, with almost no gender gap. Support is 69 - 23 percent among Democrats and 64 - 28 percent among independent voters, with Republicans opposed 49 - 39 percent, according to the poll.

"Christie-Buono looks like a walk-away," Carroll said in the release. "The governor's job approval is stratospheric and even his veto of same-sex marriage, an issue which continues to draw 2-1 support, hasn't hurt him."  


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