Gov. Chris Christie should not run for president, majority of N.J. residents polled say

TRENTON — A majority of New Jerseyans do not think Gov. Chris Christie should run for president, with a majority saying he would be a worse executive than President Barack Obama, according to a new poll. Of the 700 surveyed in New Jersey, only 15 percent said Christie should run for president and 73 percent said he should not...

Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerMost New Jersey residents polled do not want Gov. Chris Christie to run for president.

TRENTON — A majority of New Jerseyans do not think Gov. Chris Christie should run for president, with a majority saying he would be a worse executive than President Barack Obama, according to a new poll.

Of the 700 surveyed in New Jersey, only 15 percent said Christie should run for president and 73 percent said he should not run. The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA for WABC-TV in New York City, included cell phones and an automated poll to landlines and has a margin of error of about 3.8 percentage points.

Christie had denied emphatically that he is going to run for president in 2012, saying that he is not ready and doesn't know in his "heart" that he's prepared.

The poll also asked if Christie is qualified to run, with 28 percent saying he is and 54 percent saying he's not.

The poll asked respondents to compare the governor to Obama and determine who would make a better chief executive. Of those polled, 29 percent said Christie would be better and 53 percent said Christie would be worse.

The poll also asked voters to compare the governor to former President George W. Bush. Of those polled, 35 percent said Christie would be a better president than Bush and 30 percent said he would be worse.

When asked about voting for Obama for reelection in 2012 without knowing his Republican challenger, 27 percent polled in New Jersey said they would vote for him and 21 percent said they would vote against him.

The poll returned the lowest approval numbers for Christie in recent months, however they are an increase from the last time Survey USA polled asked the question. The poll found 38 percent approve of his job as governor while 56 percent disapprove. When asked a year ago, the poll found 33 percent approved and 62 percent disapproved of the governor.

Read the poll

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