4th place

Poll: Christie up to 4th place in New Hampshire

By NOLAN D. MCCASKILL

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has ascended to fourth place among likely New Hampshire primary voters, according to a Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll released Thursday.

Christie, who sat at 3 percent in October, has surged 8 percentage points in New Hampshire to 11 percent, though he still trails Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio (tied at 12 percent) and Donald Trump (in the lead with 26 percent). Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush falls just below Christie at 10 percent, followed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 8 percent, Carly Fiorina at 6 percent and Ben Carson at 5 percent.

Christie’s favorability rating among New Hampshire Republicans has soared from 46 percent to 64 percent, trailing only Rubio’s 65 percent favorability.

Despite the New Jersey governor’s rise, only 2 percent think he can win the GOP nomination. Thirty-eight percent believe that title will belong to Trump, who voters say would best handle the threat of terrorism (29 percent) followed by Christie (14 percent).

Part of the survey was conducted after CNN’s national security debate Tuesday: 18 percent of voters said Trump and Cruz won; 11 percent said Christie did.

Christie told Brian Kilmeade on Fox News radio Friday that his hard work is paying off. “I think people are recognizing, especially now, that I’m the person on that stage best prepared, based on my experience as a federal prosecutor and as a governor, to be able to keep our country secure,” he said.

Christie, who has been criticized for spending so much time in New Hampshire and not other early-voting states, will return to the state Saturday for a four-day stay before taking a holiday break and visiting Iowa beginning Dec. 27 for three days. “With 14 people in the race, you have to do well in Iowa or New Hampshire or you can’t go on,” he said. “So of course most of my attention is gonna be on Iowa and New Hampshire, and anybody who doesn’t could find themselves out of the race.”

On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders’ support among likely Democratic voters in New Hampshire has remained stagnant as Hillary Clinton has jumped 8 percent. Sanders, however, still maintains a slight lead over Clinton: 48 percent to 46 percent, within the margin of error. The Vermont senator also has a higher favorability rating — 85 percent favorable to 6 percent unfavorable. Clinton’s favorability is 83 percent, while 16 percent of likely voters have an unfavorable view of her.

But voters say the former secretary of state is the best choice to handle the threat of terrorism. They also say Clinton has the better chance of getting elected: 74 percent think she will win the nomination, compared with just 16 percent for Sanders.

Democrats will debate in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Saturday.

The poll surveyed 430 likely Republican primary voters and 410 likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire and was conducted Sunday through Thursday. The margin of error is 4.7 percent for Republicans and 4.8 percent for Democrats.