Getty New Jersey wants Chris Christie to resign

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may be officially in the running for the White House, but he’s getting no love from Garden State voters in a Monmouth University poll released Thursday. In fact, a majority of adults surveyed said Christie should resign now that he is a candidate.

A majority of New Jerseyans think their governor has abandoned the state (56 percent to 35 percent) and that he should resign (57 percent to 37 percent) because he is now campaigning for office. Just 26 percent of those surveyed said Christie could govern the state well while running for the presidency, while 71 percent said he could not.


Asked whether Christie is more concerned about governing the state or his own political future, 76 percent responded that he is more interested in his own political pursuits, compared with 17 percent who said he is focused on their state.

Overall, 58 percent of adult residents surveyed disapprove of his job performance, while 36 percent approve.

Registered voters in the state also think some of his Republican rivals would make a better president. He trails former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (37 percent to 29 percent), as well as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (35 percent to 26 percent). He leads Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (30 percent to 29 percent), but well within the margin of error.

In a hypothetical general election matchup between Christie and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, Christie trails 49 percent to 32 percent. That is statistically unchanged from the last Monmouth poll in May, when voters backed Clinton 53 percent to 30 percent.

The poll was conducted June 30-July 1, surveying 503 adults in the state, including 453 registered voters. For the overall sample, the margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. Among registered voters, the margin of error is plus or minus 5.3 percentage points.