Dustin Racioppi | Trenton Bureau

Amy Newman, NorthJersey

Disapproval for Gov. Phil Murphy rose sharply over the past year and few people in New Jersey feel that his policies have helped the middle class he has committed to rebuilding and expanding, according to a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday.

The mixed view of Murphy's policy results comes even as two-thirds of New Jersey residents said they approve of the $15 minimum wage law the Democrat signed last week, according to the poll.

Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com

And although his job approval remains statistically unchanged at 43 percent, Murphy's disapproval rating rose from 28 percent last year to 40 percent in the latest poll. His overall rating puts him behind his two immediate predecessors — Chris Christie, a Republican, and Jon Corzine, who, like Murphy, is a Democrat — at the same point in their terms, shortly after passing the first year in office.

In February 2011, Christie's approval rating was 47 percent and his disapproval was 40 percent. Four years earlier, Corzine had a 44 percent approval and 34 percent disapproval rating.

"The public seems to be a little hazy on his core aims and he has yet to sew up base support among his fellow Democrats,” Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Poll, said in a statement. He described the poll results as a "split decision" for Murphy.

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But one potentially bright spot for Murphy is that the hiring scandal spurred by an allegation of sexual assault during his gubernatorial campaign has not gripped the public's attention in the way it has among lawmakers and political observers. The poll said 41 percent of New Jersey residents have heard about the legislative hearings into the hiring of Al Alvarez, who was accused by a former campaign volunteer, Katie Brennan, of sexually assaulting her in April 2017.

A select committee has spent the past two months trying to determine who hired Alvarez at the Schools Development Authority even after multiple people close to Murphy were aware of the allegation before Murphy took office. However, no one, not even Murphy, has been able to answer that seemingly simple question. Alvarez has denied the allegation and, after two investigations by county prosecutors, he was not charged.

Another intriguing narrative that seems confined to Trenton is Murphy's relationship with lawmakers. Murphy and fellow Democrats have clashed over spending and taxes, and his relationship with the state Senate president, Stephen Sweeney, is rocky at best. The poll said 20 percent of residents think Murphy has a good relationship with Democrats, 19 percent said it's a bad relationship and most, 54 percent, have not heard anything about it.

The Legislature received a 47 percent disapproval rating, in line with past results of the poll and a historically poor view of the state's 120 lawmakers.

Although the public remains largely unaware of the inside politics of Murphy's first year, it seems more willing to render a decision on Murphy's impact as governor. His campaign platform of building a "stronger and fairer" New Jersey for the middle class and poor has become a guiding principal of his governorship, and he rarely misses an opportunity to point out that he is working toward that goal.

But 27 percent of those polled said they think his polices have helped the poor, the same percentage say his policies have had no impact and 28 percent said they have actually hurt the poor. Those views were slightly higher in Monmouth's last Murphy poll, in April.

Few people think he's helped the middle class, particularly property taxpayers. The poll said 18 percent of people think Murphy's policies have helped the middle class. More than twice as many, 39 percent, said his policies have hurt that group. Another 27 percent said his policies have had no impact on the middle class.

One of Murphy's achievements, he said in his State of the State address last month, was overseeing the slowest growth in property tax rates on record. But only 6 percent of those polled said his policies have helped property tax payers while 48 percent said they have hurt that group.

"Public opinion tends to be more negative than positive about his agenda’s impact on property tax payers and the middle class, while views are divided on whether he has helped poorer residents of the state," Murray said.

As usual, New Jersey's nation-leading property taxes ranked as the most important issue, with 45 percent of those polls identifying it as such.

“Surprise! Property taxes continue to be the issue that irks the largest number of New Jerseyans," Murray said. "It seems the governor and legislative leaders are at odds in terms of what, if anything, should be done. The solution may not be clear, but it’s certainly not a good idea to be perceived as ignoring the problem entirely.”