Bob Jordan

Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

TRENTON, N.J. — Gov. Chris Christie won't come close to winning New Jersey's electoral votes if he runs for president and Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee, a new Rutgers-Eagleton poll has found.

Forty-nine percent of registered voters in the state say they would support Clinton the former secretary of State over Christie in a 2016 matchup, while 39% back the Republican governor. On Monday, David Redlawsk, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling and professor of political science at Rutgers University said the gap between the two has remained around 10 points through much of the last year.

Christie also trails Clinton by double digits in favorability ratings, 44% to 56%.

Sixty-three percent of New Jersey voters expect Christie to run for president, compared with 57% when last polled in August. Voters also think Christie has Washington more on his mind than New Jersey, with 55% saying the governor's choices in signing or vetoing bills have been more about a potential presidential run, rather than what's good for the state.

Last month, Christie vetoed a highly controversial bill that would have prohibited confinement of pigs in small metal "gestation crate'' cages, enhancing his standing with leaders of the pork industry outside the state.

Also, 41% think Christie's travel schedule outside of the state for fundraising and campaigning has hurt his ability to govern. Christie has spent more than 100 days outside the state this year on political trips. He was the chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

Neither Christie nor Clinton have made official announcements about their White House plans.

Results are from a New Jersey-wide poll of 750 adults, contacted by live callers on both landlines and cellphones from Dec. 3-10. The subsample of 646 registered voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.