Bob Jordan

@BobJordanAPP

Reportedly Donald Trump offered New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie his vice presidential slot but then rescinded it to go with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Strategically, that change of heart is looking brilliant.

Trump is on the verge of winning Pence’s home state in next week’s presidential election, according to a Monmouth University poll released Monday. The Republican nominee leads Democrat Hillary Clinton by 11 points among likely Indiana voters, up from a lead of 4 points two weeks ago.

What’s helping: Pence is enjoying a slight uptick in his home state approval rating.

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“Earlier this month it looked like Clinton could potentially make a play for Indiana, but that opportunity has faded,’’ pollster Patrick Murray said.

Christie had pressed hard to be Trump’s running mate, the New York Post reported.

“Christie said he thinks he deserves it and he earned it,” a Trump source told the paper.

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“Trump had wanted Christie but Bridgegate would have been the biggest national story,” another Trump source said, according to the paper. “He’d lose the advantage of not being corrupt.”

Christie acknowledged to MSNBC that Trump’s decision bothered him. “If you’re a competitive person, like I am, and you’re used to winning, like I am — again, you don’t like coming in second, ever,” Christie said.

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Currently 50 percent of Hoosiers support the Trump-Pence ticket and 39 percent back Clinton-Tim Kaine. Another 4 percent say they intend to vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson.

The Monmouth University poll was conducted by telephone between Thursday and Sunday with a sample of 402 and margin of error of error of + 4.9 percent.

Bob Jordan bjordan@gannettnj.com