TRENTON – Gov. Chris Christie’s post-Sandy performance is rated excellent or good, according to 95 percent of respondents to a new poll that gives Christie a 72 percent approval rating.

It’s the highest score ever measured for a New Jersey governor in a Quinnipiac University poll, which was released today.

On Monday, a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll gave Christie a 77 percent approval rating.

The previous high for Christie in a Quinnipiac poll was 59 percent on April 11.

“Gov. Christopher Christie never looked more like a ‘Jersey Guy’ than when he stood on the Seaside boardwalk after Sandy, and, just about unanimously, his New Jersey neighbors – Republicans, Democrats, Independents – applauded,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Democrats approved of the Republican governor 52 – 39 percent.

Also, voters approve 84 – 12 percent, including 69 – 28 percent among Republicans, of Christie’s praise for President Barack Obama’s actions after Sandy, the poll finds. Christie took criticism from some conservatives who said the governor’s embrace of Obama damaged Mitt Romney’s presidential hopes, a charge Christie has rebuffed.

“’Nonsense,’ say New Jerseyans, including two-thirds of Republicans, to the GOP fringe who object to Christie's post-storm embrace of Obama,” Carroll added.

The poll gauged voter opinion on a variety of storm-related matters.

*Respondents say 61-21 percent that state taxes rather than local taxes should be used to pay for Sandy recovery. 

*Building codes should be stricter to protect against future storms, 70 percent of respondents say.

*And large storms such as Sandy are the result of climate change, New Jersey voters say 64–31 percent. 

From Nov. 19 – 25, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,664 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points.  Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.