Governor

Democrats think today's Quinnipiac gubernatorial poll indicates that Gov. Jon Corzine is well on his way to being understood and embraced by the electorate after making several unpopular and tough, but necessary decisions.

Republicans see the poll as demonstrating lackluster support for the Corzine, considering he's spent a combined $100 million on his two previous statewide races, and early enthusiasm for U.S. Attorney Chris Christie's potential candidacy among those who have heard of him.

Meanwhile, non-partisan political analysts see the poll as a wash, with promising and troubling results for both Corzine and U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, who is viewed as a likely gubernatorial candidate.

Corzine leads Christie in the poll, 42% to 36%, although only 37% of voters think Corzine deserves to be reelected and his approval rating remains net negative. Christie remains a relative unknown, with only 30% of respondents knowing enough about him to form an opinion.

Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), the Democratic State Chairman, said that's the number that caught his attention. Despite dozens of positive front page headlines about his indictments and convictions of prominent public officials since he was sworn in, 70% of voters still barely know anything about him.

On top of that, although Corzine still has a net negative approval rating, he's improved significantly since the last Quinnipiac poll in September.

In a statement issued Wednesday morning, GOP gubernatorial candidate Assemblyman Richard A. Merkt (R-Mendham) called on Republican State Committee Chairman Tom Wilson to resign his post immediately “in the best interests of the party.”

“After years of failure, it is time for the New Jersey State GOP to change horses and look to new leadership if it wants to succeed in 2009,” said Merkt. “Wilson has overseen a series of dismal state campaigns, reducing the Republican party to essential irrelevance in New Jersey state politics.”

 Merkt called Wilson’s handling of the U.S. Senate Primary a “fiasco,” in which the establishment juggled one candidate after another before running with former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer, and getting soundly beaten by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park).  In particular, the party’s selection of political neophyte and food heir Andy Unanue, whose short-lived candidacy dissolved in jarring headlines about his party boy past, galled Merkt.

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Bob Franks had a 53%-3% favorble rating among Republicans after his 2000 U.S. Senate bid, and lost a primary for Governor six months later by fourteen percentage points

Outgoing U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has a 42%-1% favorable rating among Republican voters, who by a 67%-4% margin want him to run for Governor in 2009.  In a head to head poll with Democrat Jon Corzine, Republicans back Christie 76%-10%.  Christie also leads Corzine among Independents, 38%-32%.

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Gov. Jon Corzine has an upside-down 43%-46% job approval rating

Gov. Jon Corzine continues to struggle with his fifth negative approval rating this year -- 43%-46% -- according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released today.  But those numbers are better than his 40%-51% approval rating in a September 17 Quinnipiac poll.  More than half of New Jersey voters (51%) say he doesn't deserve to be re-elected, while just 37% say he does.  

New Jerseyans, by a 54%-30% margin, don't want Corzine to be Barack Obama's Secretary of the Treasury.

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U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is within six points of incumbent Jon Corzine in a Quinnipiac University poll of the 2009 race for Governor of New Jersey

Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine has a narrow six point lead over Republican Christopher Christie in the 2009 race for Governor of New Jersey, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released early this morning.  Corzine leads Christie, who will leave his post as U.S. Attorney on December 1, 42%-36%.

“The long coattails of Barack Obama have reached down into New Jersey and helped Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election prospects, at least for now,” said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 

Quinnipiac University will release a new poll on Wednesday morning with Gov. Jon Corzine's job approval ratings and a head-to-head contest with U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie. In a September 17 survey, Corzine had an upside-down approval rating of 40%-51%, and was in a statistial dead heat with Christie, 42%-40%.

Franklin Township Mayor Brian D. Levine, who has won twice in a heavily Democratic town, is thinking about seeking the 2009 GOP gubernatorial nomination

Brian D. Levine doesn’t know if he broke any records in losses suffered when he ran for student council at Rutgers. But he retained his interest in politics after marrying and moving to Franklin Township and at the polls one June he noted that no one from his party had filed to run for Republican County Committeeman.

So he wrote himself in, and won. 

 “You could say I squeaked it out because I won by one vote, or I won by a landslide because I won by 100 percent,” says Levine. “That proves you can spin the numbers.”

In the 1997 race for city council, Levine faced a formidable 16-year incumbent. He prevailed in a close election, triggering what became for him a pattern of victories, and spawning two back-to-back wins in mayoral races, in 2004 and 2007.

Now Levine, 50, a certified public accountant who is married with two daughters, is considering a run for governor, and believes his record as a fiscally conservative Republican in a Democratic town gives him particularly well-suited skills to serve as New Jersey’s chief executive.

U.S. representatives Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) and Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) teamed up to craft legislation to curtail the power of U.S. attorneys in appointing federal monitors, so it was no surprise when they responded today to Christie’s announcement that he would resign at the end of this month.

The congressmen separately jabbed at the departing U.S. Attorney, with Pallone augmenting Pascrell’s chief complaint with his own worry about what he cited as Christie’s politicization of his office. 

"I remain concerned that Christie has engaged in improper political activities in recent months while still serving as the U.S. Attorney,” said Pallone. “Numerous press reports have highlighted aggressive political outreach by Christie and his political lieutenants in order to develop a campaign infrastructure for a possible run for governor. In an effort to allay these concerns, I hope Christie agrees to release his private and public schedules for the last two years so that the public can make its own judgment regarding any possible political activity by the U.S. Attorney.”

Conservative activist Steve Lonegan will announce his decision on whether or not he’s going to run for governor on December 1st.

“It’s going to be a blast,” said Lonegan, the former mayor of Bogota. “I’m looking forward to it. There’s a potential for a really good primary here.”

That date coincides with U.S. Attorney Chris Christie’s resignation from office, which he announced today.  Christie is the Republican establishment’s favorite to run for Governor.  But Lonegan said the timing was a coincidence.