You know you're in trouble when more than a third of your own party members support your opponent of the other political party.

Governor Chris Christie (Governor's Office/Tim Larsen)
Governor Chris Christie (Governor's Office/Tim Larsen)
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According to today's Quinnipiac University poll, that's the case for Sen. Barbara Buono in her battle to unseat incumbent Gov. Chris Christie whose current lead is seemingly insurmountable.

"There's no silver lining for the Buono campaign," says Mickey Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "She trails by more than two-to-one, 64-30 percent Christie beats Buono among likely New Jersey voters and there's not a good element in this poll for Buono. Thirty-five percent of Democrats like Christie, the Republican candidate."

Sixty percent of Democrats support Buono, but Carroll says that's not exactly a blowout. The Democratic challenger has made women's issues a major plank in her campaign platform, but today's survey shows Buono is in deep trouble with likely female voters too.

"She loses among women, 61-32 percent, almost 2-to-1," says Carroll. "Has there been a candidate who makes more points about women's issues than Buono?"

The incumbent Governor is favored by 69 percent of likely male voters while just 26 percent support Buono. As you might expect, Christie's lead among Republicans is off the charts. He leads Buono 94-3 percent among GOP voters and Christie tops his challenger among independents, 69-23 percent.

"If there's any good news, any silver lining in these numbers for Buono, I haven't been able to spot them," says Carroll.

Sixty-seven percent give Christie a favorable rating while just 27 percent view him in an unfavorable light. Even Democrats are divided with a 45-47 percent favorability rating for the Governor. Buono gets a negative favorability, 23-36 percent and a full 40 percent say they still don't know enough about her to form any opinion.

The Governor would do a better job than his challenger in controlling property taxes according to the voters, 62-19 percent and 65 percent think Christie would do a better job in improving the state's economy. Just 22 percent feel Buono would do better.

"The good news for the Governor comes to a screeching halt at the trip of his coattails," says Carroll. "If he wants to run for president, a compliant state legislature in Trenton would help, but 15 percent of New Jersey voters say Christie's support would make them less likely to vote for a legislative candidate and 61 percent say it would make no difference in their vote."

Forty-three percent think Christie should run for president in 2016, but 41 percent say he shouldn't. It doesn't matter in this year's gubernatorial race. Seventy-six percent say the possibility of a Christie run for the White House doesn't affect their vote for Governor. If he does run, 53 percent feel it would be good for the state while 28 percent think it would be bad.

From Sept. 19 - 22, Quinnipiac University surveyed 948 New Jersey likely voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points.

 

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