Fewer than ever approve of Christie after beach debacle
In poll, N.J. governor nabs rating of just 15%
Chris Christie can take to heart that a majority of his constituents (54%) equally blames him and the state Legislature for the budget standoff that led to the shutdown.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s approval rating is at an alltime low, according to a new poll out Monday.
The Monmouth University Poll found that the Republican governor had a 15% approval rating, while another 80% said they disapproved of the job he was doing.
His approval rating was already low when last taken in May 2016 — 27% approval and 63% disapproval.
Likely not helping Christie: his behavior during the state government shutdown, which included a trip to the beach that was closed to the public at the time. Per the poll, about two-thirds of New Jerseyans surveyed expressed negative views of photos taken of the governor at the beach.
“It really is difficult to drive approval ratings into the single digits barring something like a criminal conviction,” polling institute director Patrick Murray said in a statement. “However, you have to admire Christie’s tenacity for trying to get his numbers down to that level.”
Additionally, 55% said they believed the Garden State was worse off because of Christie.
Still, Christie can take to heart that a majority of his constituents (54%) equally blames him and the state Legislature for the budget standoff that led to the shut- down. Another 28% said they put more of the blame on Christie, while 14% said they blamed the Legislature more.
It’s also possible that Christie won’t care about any of this. After all, when people criticized him for going to the beach last week, he replied, “I think I have proven over the past eight years, that I don’t care about political optics.”