Meanwhile, 50 percent of registered voters polled indicated they approve of the governor's job performance, an increase from May when 46 percent approved
Gov. Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) appear in these Star-Ledger file photos. TRENTON — For all the talk of bipartisan cooperation in Trenton, New Jersey residents don't think politicians are getting along well, according to a poll released today by Monmouth University.
Only 18 percent of those polled think Gov. Chris Christie and Democrats in the Legislature have been working well together while 63 percent think they aren't working well together.
And of the 802 polled, blame is placed on both sides. Of those polled, 61 percent said it is both sides fault while 19 percent pinned it on Christie and 16 percent on the Legislature.
The poll interviewed 802 residents and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
The poll also asked participants about both sides job approval.
Of those polled, 48 percent said they approve of Christie's job, a one percentage point increase from the last time Monmouth asked residents in May of this year. Of those polled, 42 percent said they disapprove, an improvement from the May poll in which 49 percent disapproved.
The Legislature had the highest approval numbers they've received in a Monmouth poll since February 2007. Of those polled, 35 percent indicated they approve of the Legislature while 47 percent disapprove.
When it comes to the most recent sticking point between Christie and Democrats — the state's budget — almost a three-quarters of those polled said they heard something the governor's decision to use the line-item veto to reduce several spending categories. Of those who did, 22 percent said they were satisfied with Christie's reductions, 42 percent said they could live with them and 33 percent said they were dissatisfied.
Among only registered voters polled, Christie performed better. Fifty percent of registered voters polled indicated they approve of the governor's job performance, an increase from May when 46 percent approved. Only 41 percent of registered voters disapproved of the governor, a drop from the 49 percent who gave the same response in May.
“Overall, the public has never been particularly happy with the size of the cuts Governor Christie has made in either of his budgets. However, they recognize New Jersey is in dire economic straits and continue to give the governor positive marks for leadership,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, in a statement. “How he performs on the individual issues important to state residents is still very much up in the air.”
The poll also asked participants to score the governor in three areas: controlling cost and cutting waste; property tax relief and improving schools. Scores in all three areas dipped, with more respondents scoring Christie with a "C" and fewer giving him an "A."
“The public’s outlook on property taxes has been on a roller coaster ride since Governor Christie took office,” said Murray. “Pessimism over property taxes has not been a noticeable drag on the governor’s overall job rating, but it’s difficult to shake the sense that it hangs over him like a Sword of Damocles. The big question is whether opinion will shift in a year or two as voters start to consider whether Christie deserves a second term.”