TRENTON — Before making his first public appearance since bowing out of the presidential campaign, Gov. Chris Christie appeared downcast as he walked the Statehouse hallway from his office to the Assembly chambers on Tuesday.

He kept the small talk to reporters and bystanders to a minimum. There were no jokes, no waves, no smiles.

With his exit from the biggest political stage barely a week old after his crushing defeat in the New Hampshire primary, Christie took a moment to speak directly to Garden State residents before presenting his state budget.

"Before I start, I want to say thank you to the people of New Jersey for allowing me the great privilege of running for president of the United States," Christie said.

"While the result was not what I had hoped for," he continued, "the experience has made me a better governor, it's made me a better American, and it's made me a better person. All that growth, all that improvement I owe to the people of New Jersey and I intend to use it to make the next two years two great years for the state that we all love."

But it won't be easy.

Christie returns to New Jersey where he faces significant challenges as he re-focuses on the state after spending the majority of the last eight months fighting for the Republican nomination for president.

The obstacles waiting for him back home begin with the very people he addressed at the beginning of his seventh budget address.

Just hours ahead of speech, a new Rutgers-Eagleton poll showed just 29 percent of New Jersey's registered voters have a favorable view of the governor. That's down four points from the last poll in December, making him the least popular he's ever been in the state.

And members of the Democratic-controlled Legislature showed little signs of giving the governor a soft place to land after tireless campaigning in New Hampshire and Iowa, where Christie routinely logged only a few hours of sleep a night to keep up with a packed schedule.

"He wasn't here for the last year and a half," exclaimed Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester). "It's nice to have the governor back so that we can start to have discussions."

Asked if he thought it would be any easier to negotiate a budget with Christie now that the presidential campaign is over, Sweeney swatted down the question.

"I don't think he's done running for office," Sweeney said.

He called on Christie to "face the reality" of what's troubling the state ahead of budget talks. The top lawmaker fumed after that the governor's address glossed over issues he said need immediate attention, such as New Jersey's dwindling Transportation Trust Fund.

"(It's) flat out not true," responded Sweeney to Christie's claims that the TTF isn't in dire straights.

In the Assembly, Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) echoed a similar sentiment.

"He says he wants to work together," he said. "We've been here."

Republicans lauded Christie on his vigorous campaign, but when Christie acknowledged his failed presidential bid at the start of his speech, none of the GOP legislators rose to their feet to offer raucous support of their governor. Republicans gave Christie four other standing ovations during his speech.

"He can see in my eyes that I'm happy he's back," offered Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Union).

State Sen. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union) added: "(We) recognize all the hard work he put in."

Of course, Christie's chief negotiations will be with Democrats who run the Legislature.

Sweeney may not be crazy about what Christie said in the speech, especially after the governor blasted the Senate president's plan to ask voters to force the state to make pension payments with a constitutional amendment.

But he's happy that his sparring with the governor won't be a long distance affair.

"We are happy to have him back because I can tell you it was very frustrating," Sweeney said. "The first term, he was here all the time. You could sit face-to-face and argue and fight and try to find solutions, and it works. It's harder to do when you are emailing and phone-calling."

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Follow NJ.com Politics on Facebook.