By Michael Aron
Chief Political Correspondent
In the FDU poll, 18 percent approve of Gov. Chris Christie’s job performance; 73 percent disapprove. In the Quinnipiac poll, 19 percent approve, 77 percent disapprove.
Most observers attribute the low numbers — at least in part — to Bridgegate.
In the FDU poll, 71 percent said they believe Christie should have been a defendant at the recent Bridgegate trial. Forty-eight percent of Quinnipiac’s believe Christie personally ordered the Bridgegate traffic jam, compared to 43 percent who don’t believe it.
FDU Poll Director Krista Jenkins says the numbers represent a combination of things — Bridgegate of course, but also Christie’s absences from the state, his support of Donald Trump, who lost New Jersey, his recent signing of a gas tax hike and the persistence of state problems.
To what extent does Jenkins think people are just tired of him?
“That could certainly be it as well. We’re talking about a two-term governor and it has been a difficult road for him really since Hurricane Sandy. That’s really when we saw the peak of his support, and then the Bridgegate trial, the Bridgegate revelations caused that to erode. But you’re right, he’s been here for two terms and eventually people do get tired of leaders when they’ve been around as long as he has been,” she said.
Eighteen percent approval for a governor is the lowest since people at FDU started polling in 2001. Historically, only two governors have ever polled any lower. Brendan Byrne had 17 percent in 1977, the year after he an income tax, but went on to win re-election anyway. Jim Florio also had 17 percent in 1990, the year he hiked both the income and the sales tax.
State Sen. and former Gov. Dick Codey says it’s because Christie is just not a nice guy.
“Some people will say it’s because of Bridgegate. Yeah, that’s a factor. But before Bridgegate ever happened there was a growing concern that our governor was more like a bully than a gentleman and I can understand that. Even within his own party lately, you’re getting more and more Republicans saying I don’t like him as a person,” Codey said.
Even among Republicans, 52 to 33 percent disapprove in one poll. In another poll, only 24 percent say Christie should get a job in the Trump administration.
Essex County Republican Chairman Al Barlas blames a lot of this on Christie’s absences.
“You saw a lot of press about the fact that he wasn’t here, that he was in New Hampshire, Iowa, he was in all these other places. When you’re not in the state every day like he had been for five and a half years prior to that, I think it has an impact on people’s minds. But I think you’re going to see now that that part of it is over and the governor is going to return his efforts and his focus I think 1,000 percent to doing the job that he has always said that he loves doing,” Barlas said.
Is he likely to rebound?
“That’s certainly possible. But will he ever reach the heights that he obtained in the days after Sandy or the heady days of his post-inauguration? Probably not,” Jenkins said.
Christie said recently he doesn’t care about polls.