Gov. Christie Campaigns For Local NH Politicians

Gov. Chris Christie, center, is questioned after stumping for then-US Senate candidate Scott Brown (R - New Hampshire) last September in Salem, NH, USA. Today, it's Christie who's the underdog in the Granite State. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

TRENTON -- Sixty-nine percent of New Jersey's registered voters think Gov. Chris Christie would not make a good president, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll, a 10-point increase since a February poll.

Only 6 percent of voters say Christie's chances of landing the GOP nomination have improved, with 44 percent saying they've worsened and 46 percent saying they're about the same.

In part, this may because Christie doesn't fit with voters' ideas of who is "presidential." Some 58 percent of voters say "presidential" does not describe Christie "at all." Meanwhile, 28 percent said they think it describes the governor "somewhat well" while just 10 percent say it describes him "very well."

The poll reflects poor showings for Christie in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire. In a recent REACH Communications poll of potential Republican presidential candidates taken in the Granite State last week, Christie was polling at 5.8 percent, well behind Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and even Donald Trump.

Still, the Eagleton poll found a resounding majority of voters do not think Christie's declining prospects will deter him from becoming a 2016 candidate. Fully 57 percent think he'll run, compared to the fewer than one-in-three who do not.

RELATED: Drawing the governor. Christie's greatest hits in Sheneman cartoons.

"Voters who know Gov. Christie best simply do not see him as president," said David Redlawsk, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling and professor of political science at Rutgers University. "New Jerseyans have watched him in good times and bad. While his strengths were on display after the Sandy disaster, he was seen as just another politician after the Bridgegate scandal and the investigations it spawned, and he has never recovered."

Results were taken from a statewide poll of 860 adults contacted by live callers on both landlines and cell phones from March 27 to April 3, including 722 registered voters. The registered voter sample has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.0 percentage points. Interviews were done in English and, when requested, Spanish.

Gov. Christie's 130th Town Hall Meeting at Van Derveer Elementary School 28 Gallery: Gov. Christie's 130th Town Hall Meeting at Van Derveer Elementary School

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Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com