Another poll shows a horse race

A Stockton College poll conducted by Zogby International, shows the race for governor in a statistical dead heat, with Democrat Jon Corzine leading Republican Christopher Christie, 40%-39%, with 14% for independent Christopher Daggett.

Among independents, Christie leads 39%-26%, with 23% for Daggett.

"Less than a week from the election, only a third of likely voters (34%) say they would like to see Governor Corzine reelected," said Hughes Center Executive Director Sharon Schulman. "The majority (59%) want someone new, including 30% of likely Democratic voters and 70% of Independents and unaffiliated voters."

 "This is a bad political environment for an incumbent nationally, but even worse considering New Jersey's enormous budget problems.  That said, for many voters the incumbent Governor may be the lesser of two evils and New Jersey has historically given Democrats the benefit of the doubt," said pollster John Zogby.  "Both Corzine and Christie have been unsparing with their attacks and the surprising rise of Chris Daggett is a testament to how ineffectual both parties have been at appealing to voters.  Daggett's performance should serve as a warning to Republicans and Democrats.  If Daggett can surge and get nearer to 20 percent of the vote, we may see more third party candidates emerge in 2010."

Zogby International was commissioned by the Hughes Center for Public Policy at The Richard Stockton College to conduct a telephone survey of 1093 likely voters.  The survey ran from October 27-29 and has  a margin of error of +/- 3%/.