Don't want "Fatman" Christie

New Jersey voters don't want Christie to be Trump's VP

By Nolan D. McCaskill

An overwhelming majority of New Jersey voters don’t want to see Gov. Chris Christie on Donald Trump’s ticket, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Trump has said he won’t name a running mate before the Republican National Convention in July but has hinted that he will likely choose a politician who can work with Congress. But 72 percent of voters in the state are opposed to Christie becoming Trump’s vice presidential pick. Even Republicans (64 percent) are against the Trump-Christie duo.

“Christie-for-President was a flop and, as far as the local folks are concerned, so is Christie-for-Vice President,” said Maurice Carroll, Quinnipiac University poll assistant director, in a statement. “Forget local pride, New Jersey voters say overwhelmingly; they don’t want their Gov on a Trump ticket.”

Christie has also hit an all-time low in approval ratings, the poll shows. Sixty-four percent of New Jersey voters disapprove of the job he’s doing as governor. Republicans (59 percent) are the only group that approve of Christie’s job. Meanwhile, Democrats (86 percent) and independents (66 percent) overwhelmingly disapprove.

Christie’s low approval rating can likely be attributed to voters’ dim view of what’s happening in the state. Sixty-five percent are dissatisfied with the way things are going in New Jersey (Republicans are split — 50 percent satisfied, 49 percent dissatisfied), and while one-third said the economy is good in New Jersey, 44 percent said it’s not so good and nearly 20 percent called it poor. Among Republicans, 41 percent said the economy was good, 42 percent said not so good and 14 percent said poor. Nearly six in 10 voters overall said the economy is staying about the same, rather than getting better or worse.

The Quinnipiac University poll surveyed 1,989 New Jersey voters May 10-16 via landline and cellphone. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.