Gov. Chris Christie’s budget address failed to earn him any kind of boost with voters, according to a new FDU PublicMind Poll, the results of which were released Tuesday.The survey by Fairleigh Dickinson University found that only 35 percent of registered voters approve of the job Christie is doing, compared with 51 percent who disapprove. That represents the lowest approval rating for the governor since he took office, FDU said in a news release.



“It may be a different day, but it’s the same dismal story,” Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and director of PublicMind, said in a prepared statement. “The state’s problems are taking their toll on the governor’s ratings. His budget address attempted to hit the reset button on the gaping pension hole, but did little to assuage the broad concerns of the public.”



Although Republicans continue to give the GOP governor a favorable rating, 55 percent to 31 percent, such demographic groups as independents and women have a negative opinion, FDU said.



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Only 33 percent of self-described independents and the same one-third of women give the governor a favorable rating, compared with 47 percent of independents and 51 percent of women who give him a negative one.



Adding insult to injury, only a third of the state’s voters think New Jersey is headed in the right direction, while a majority — 52 percent — think it is going the wrong way. As with the governor’s approval rating, FDU’s survey research center found, only Republicans are more confident than concerned, 45 percent to 37 percent.



“On everyone’s mind these days is this central question: How can the governor run for the Republican nomination with voters back home largely unhappy with what they’re seeing?” Jenkins said. “Thankfully, it’s still early, and it remains to be seen how interested national voters are with what New Jerseyans think about their leader.”



In contrast, President Barack Obama maintained his slightly positive rating with New Jersey voters, with 44 percent approving of the job he’s doing, compared with 41 percent who disapprove. Those numbers are in line with January’s ratings, FDU said.



However, more than half of those polled — 52 percent — think the country is on the wrong track, versus only 37 percent who think it’s headed in the right direction.



The poll of 790 registered voters in New Jersey was conducted between Feb. 23 and Sunday. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. PublicMind interviews are conducted by Opinion America, based in Cedar Knolls.



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