Christie ahead by five points in FDU poll

Christopher Christie leads Gov. Jon Corzine by five points, 47%-42% among likely voters, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released this morning.  Independent Christopher Daggett, who was not listed as one of the choices, is at 1%.

A July FDU poll had Christie ahead 45%-49%.

Corzine continues to struggle with job approval numbers.  One-third of likely voters (33%) say he has done a poor job, and 40% rate him as only fair.  Just 22% say he has done a good job as governor, and only 3% rate him as excellent.

"This is the expected result of an increasing volume of negative advertising," said Peter Woolley, the poll director.

Corzine has an upside-down 37%-54% favorable rating, while Christie is at 38%-35%.  Since July, Corzine's numbers have essentially remained the same, while Christie's unfavorables have gone up from 34%-25% in July.

"The most important difference between these two candidates right now is in the support each one gets from his own party's voters," said Woolley.  "Among Republicans, Christie is preferred by 85%. Meanwhile, Corzine gets the support of 73% of Democrats. "That is an improvement from his earlier, tepid support, but still lagging," said Woolley.

Asked which candidate is better described as "honest, trustworthy," Corzine and Christie are now essentially tied (31% Corzine, 32% Christie), but Christie, the former U.S. Attorney, had been the clear leader, 33%-24%, in the previous survey.

Most voters have not heard of the two candidates for Lt. Governor.  State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) has favorables of 10%-5% and 65% of voters haven't heard of her.  Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno is unknown to 85% of voters and has favorables of 4%-3%.  Daggett, a former state Environmental Protection Commissioner, has favorables of 9%-4%; 67% of voters don't know who he is.

Nearly seven out of ten voters (68%) say that New Jersey is on the wrong track, while 22% say the state is moving in the right direction.

The FDU poll of 715 likely voters statewide was conducted by telephone from August 24, 2009, through August 30, 2009, and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

Click here to view the FDU poll