Today’s Quinnipiac University poll focused on New Jersey’s ongoing gubernatorial race also asked voters for their views on six statewide political figures, and one rose to the top as the most popular: Senator Andy Kim.
According to the poll, 46% of likely New Jersey voters in this November’s election approve of the job Kim has done as a U.S. senator, versus 27% who disapprove. Kim, a former congressman elected last year to succeed disgraced ex-Senator Bob Menendez, is at 72%-7% among Democrats, 44%-27% among independents, and even wins over 20% of Republicans.
Kim’s fellow U.S. senator, Cory Booker, also earns a 46% approval rating, but a far higher percentage of voters – 43% – say they disapprove of his job performance. 86% of Republicans and a narrow plurality of independents disapprove of Booker, who has a national profile as a prominent liberal and critic of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Gov. Phil Murphy, who is term-limited this year, has approval ratings of 48%-44%, not too far off the marks he’s been getting throughout most of his tenure as governor. As with Booker, a narrow plurality of independents disapprove of Murphy’s job performance, and Republicans view the governor as a potential albatross for Democrats this November.
Importantly, however, Booker and Murphy are both very popular with voters of their own party: among Democrats, Booker is at 83%-9% and Murphy is at 84%-9%.
After eight years of Murphy in the governor’s office, 49% of voters said they’re satisfied with how things are going in New Jersey, though only 8% said they’re “very satisfied”; an equivalent 49% said they’re dissatisfied, including 27% who said they’re “very dissatisfied.”
Democrats, meanwhile, hope that Republicans are dragged down by the man sitting in the Oval Office, and Quinnipiac’s poll finds that might be a wise strategy. Although the president came within six points of flipping the Garden State red last year, he’s now underwater 41%-55%, making him by far the most unpopular figure Quinnipiac tested.
As for the two nominees to succeed Murphy as governor, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) has favorability ratings of 40%-29%, while Ciattarelli – who remains a bit better-known than his opponent, perhaps because of his prior gubernatorial campaigns – is at 40%-39%.
The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted from September 11-15 with a sample size of 1,238 likely general election voters and a margin of error of /- 3.9%.
