TRENTON — New Jersey voters want to keep the Legislature Democratic so it can “act as a check” on Republican Gov. Chris Christie, but also want Democrats to work with the governor, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released today. Fifty-one percent of voters want the state Senate and Assembly to remain Democratic, while 38 percent would prefer it turns...
Gov. Chris Christie, left, shakes hands with State Senate President Stephen Sweeney in this June file photo. A new poll released today by Rutgers-Eagleton found voters want Democrats and Republicans to compromise in Trenton.TRENTON — New Jersey voters want to keep the Legislature Democratic so it can “act as a check” on Republican Gov. Chris Christie, but also want Democrats to work with the governor, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released today.
Fifty-one percent of voters want the state Senate and Assembly to remain Democratic, while 38 percent would prefer it turns over to Republican control. That’s slightly better than an April Rutgers-Eagleton poll.
But 60 percent said Democrats should to work with the Governor, while just 30 percent said Democrats should focus on resisting him.
“The same voters who tell us they want Democrats to win in Trenton so they can act as a check also tell us they still want Democrats to work with Gov. Christie now rather than resisting his plans,” said pollster David Redlawsk. “This is not so much an endorsement of everything the governor wants to do as a strong desire to see compromise, not contention.”
While the Democrats’ numbers have improved slightly, they’ve slipped among independents. In a February Eagleton poll, independent preferred Democrats 48 to 38 percent. Now, independents are split almost evenly, with 43 percent wanting Democrats to remain in control and 41 percent preferring Republicans.
"Support for Democratic control has bounced around for the last six months, while Republican support has remained nearly constant," said Redlawsk. "The uncertainty can be attributed to independent voters who supported Democratic control by 10 points in February, but who now only favor Democrats by 2 points. If Democratic candidates have trouble holding onto independents, more seats might be in play than expected."
When asked if they will vote for a Democrat or Republican in their own districts, voters chose Democrats 35 percent of the time and Republicans 25 percent.
Rutgers-Eagleton surveyed 615 registered voters from August 9 to August 15. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
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