Christie stays way ahead in three final polls in New Jersey
(CNN) - On the eve of Election Day 2013, three new polls reconfirm the story line of the entire campaign in New Jersey: Republican Gov. Chris Christie's easily going to win re-election.
It's a just a matter of how large a victory the Republican governor will secure against state Sen. Barbara Buono, the little-known Democratic challenger.
Christie leads Buono 61%-33% among likely Garden State voters in a Quinnipiac University poll, 66%-30% in a Rutgers-Eagleton survey, and 57%-37% in a Monmouth University poll. All three surveys were conducted over the past week and released Monday.
The Quinnipiac poll indicates Christie winning 94% of Republican voters, nearly two-thirds of independents and even three out of 10 Democrats. Christie's grabbing 92% of Republicans, more than six in 10 independents and nearly a quarter of Democrats in the Monmouth survey. In the Rutgers-Eagleton poll, Christie's winning 95% of GOP voters, more than seven in ten independents and nearly four in ten Democrats.
All three surveys indicate Christie ahead by large margins not only among men, but also female voters. And in two of the polls, Christie leads among younger voters.
"That weekend bus ride around the Garden State must have felt like a victory tour for Gov. Christopher Christie," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Sen. Barbara Buono gave it a good New Jersey try, but she wasn't stronger than the Christie Storm. Quinnipiac's final numbers say blow-out."
"Over the past month, Christie's campaign appears to have convinced more Democrats to abandon Buono," said David Redlawsk, director of the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll and professor of political science at Rutgers University. "Whether Democrats are switching to Christie or just planning to stay home, the small gains Buono had made with her party base over previous months have been reversed."
Christie's numbers, in blue-state New Jersey, skyrocketed late last year, thanks to his job responding to the devastating Superstorm Sandy, which slammed into the Garden State a year ago, ravaging parts of the state and causing billions in damage.
With Christie considering a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, his re-election campaign is seen as a tune-up or stepping stone for that possible White House bid.
The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted October 30-November 3, with 1,388 likely voters in New Jersey questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
The Monmouth University poll was conducted October 30-November 2, with 1,436 likely voters questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
The Rutgers-Eagleton poll was conducted October 28-November 2, with 535 likely voters questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
No doubt Christie has this election in the bag. That being said, I actually respect Ms. Buono for her efforts. The more I've seen and heard of her, the more I like her. I truly think she would be a good fit for New Jersey.
""Whether Democrats are switching to Christie or just planning to stay home,"
I have no evidence, but I suspect most Dems in Jersey are just staying home ... as they are wont to do in off-year elections.
Until Democrats and liberals learn how to get off their duffs and go vote in non-Presidential elections, the country will continue to suffer from fundamentalist school boards, reactionary statehouses, governors like Maine's LePage, and national representatives like Louis Gohmert.
Dems! Quit crying after the fact and go VOTE.
I do not disqualify him for governor–but he is not perfect-fit to lead a big nation.
Unfortunately we will be stuck with old Pufferfish for another 4 years. Our only ray of hope is that he does run for president so he'll be out of the state for much of his term. At least he won't be calling us stupid, jerks, and idiots. He'll probably use those terms for other citizens while he's criss-crossing the country. And as far as Sandy is concerned, he may have started off right, but there are thousands of our citizens who are still out of their homes waiting for the money and help he promised. And don't get me started on his lies about property taxes (mine have gone up), education funding (gone down), and the fact that we've got the highest unemployment rate in our region. His claims are about as puffed up as he is.
They could do a lot worse than Christie... He's one of the GOP I can stand...
The HAM
They could do a lot worse than Christie... He's one of the GOP I can stand...
I predict that Christie will not be in the republican party long if he keeps up the level of rationality he has so far....
Ask the ex-(and future) Governor of Florida what happens when you don't exhibit outrihght hostility towards the POTUS.
roro
Unfortunately we will be stuck with old Pufferfish for another 4 years. Our only ray of hope is that he does run for president so he'll be out of the state for much of his term.
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Oh, gee, thanks. Wish him on the rest of the country. BTW, if he runs and wins in 2016, New Jersey is still stuck with him. The only difference is that he'll be sitting in the White House, instead of Trenton.
The NJ two-ton bully may win, but he is the most obnoxious politician ever.
I think this is the last election Christie can win. If he will try to jump onto the General Election 2016, for sure he will not win. Dems will not throw away one of their own and go for him. Republicans will not go for him either because he betrayed them in 2012.
I think that people are thinking of the Sandy reaction that he has too much and don't understand where he is coming from idelogocially. The problem is that if you look at most of his policies and decisions are based on either conservative ideology or incomplete and false information.
High property taxes, high unemployment, and cut funding for education, sounds like a true Republican to me.
cumulus
High property taxes, high unemployment, and cut funding for education, sounds like a true Republican to me.
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Passed anti-union legislation by reneging on a bi-partisan bill when he used his line item veto to delete all of his concessions.
Killed hundreds of jobs by cancelling the final NJ portion of a high speed rail project. The feds demanded a $400 million refund from NJ taxpayers.