New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has closed the gap with Republican opponent Chris Christie to the closest it's been in month, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Sept. 23 to 28.
Corzine now trails Christie 39 percent to 43 percent among likely voters as the campaign enters its final month.
That's an improvement for the incumbent from Sept. 1, when a Quinnipiac poll showed Corzine lagging behind Christie by 10 percentage points.
Independent Christopher Daggett earned 12 percent of the vote, a high for him. He took 16 percent of the independent vote and 11 percent of the Democratic vote.
The barrage of negative campaign ads seems to have taken its toll on Christie, whose favorable-unfavorable rating is now even -- 38 percent on the plus side and 38 percent holding a negative opinion of the former U.S. attorney.
Christie's unfavorable ratings have nearly doubled since July.
Corzine's ratings have held relatively steady, with a majority, 56 percent, continuing to view him unfavorably. Thirty-four percent of likely New Jersey voters have a favorable opinion of their current governor, the same amount as in the beginning of September.
One of Corzine's biggest challenges is the perception that he will raise taxes in the future. The poll found that is the No. 1 issue of the likely voters surveyed. And 61 percent of them said they think property taxes will go up if Corzine is re-elected.
A plurality, 46 percent, thought property taxes would remain the same if Christie is elected, while 34 percent said they expect their taxes to go up under Christie.
Corzine supported raising taxes on some of the state's wealthiest citizens to help close a multi-billion dollar budget gap.
To follow the 2009 and 2010 governors' races, check out CQ Politics' election map.
-- Emily Cadei
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The key finding here is that although Christie's numbers have fallen somewhat, Corzine's numbers have cemented at a GRANITE-HARD 38-39%. Unless Daggett gets into the mid to high teens on election day, not impossible, but not likely, Corzine is TOAST.
What will happen is that the people who don't like either Christie or Corzine will stay home on election day.
Posted by: NObama
| October 1, 2009 6:27 PM
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