Quinnipiac

Quinnipiac University will release a poll on the February 5 New Jersey presidential primary on Wednesday morning.

Gov. Jon Corzine's job approval ratings continue to go down and voters are split, 44%-43%, on whether he should be re-elected in 2009, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. Corzine has a 46%-43% approval rating, down from 49%-40% in September, and 48%-39% in July. Among New Jersey voters, 41% say they would vote for Corzine, and 31% say they would back an unnamed Republican candidate.

“Midway in his first term, voters are lukewarm about Gov. Jon Corzine and give his performance a mediocre rating. Most just think things have stayed about the same since he took over in Trenton,” said Clay Richards, the Assistant Director of the Quinnipiac polling institute.

Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani continue to be in a statistical dead heat for New Jersey’s fifteen electoral votes, with Giuliani leading 45%-44%, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. Clinton and Giuliani continue to hold huge leads in the February 5, 2008 presidential primaries.

On the Democratic side, Clinton leads Barack Obama by a 46%-15% margin, with 11% for Al Gore and 7% for John Edwards. In the GOP primary, Giuliani leads Fred Thompson, 45%-12%, with John McCain at 8% and Mitt Romney at 6%.

HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE: "I don’t think he’s in any real trouble...they’re just pesky things," says former Gov. Brendan Byrne on Jon Corzine's emailsIn his 1974 inaugural speech, Brendan T. Byrne borrowed a line from New Jersey’s most famous former governor: Woodrow Wilson. “If you think too much about being reelected, it is very difficult to be worth reelecting,” it read.

The next year, Byrne took that wisdom to heart, pushing through a wildly unpopular new state income tax. So unpopular, in fact, that it cost Democrats seventeen Assembly seats in the mid-term elections, made Byrne consider not running for reelection, and led to eight other Democrats challenging him in the gubernatorial primary in 1977.

Thirty-two years later, Gov. Jon S. Corzine used that same Woodrow Wilson line in his inaugural address. But for all the criticism Corzine has faced lately, it’s nothing compared to the backlash Byrne saw in the 70’s, said the former Governor.

Milton R. Young, top, and William L. GuyAge was an issue in a 1974 U.S. Senate race in North Dakota, where a popular 55-year-old former Governor challenged a beloved 76-year-old incumbent who had won more than 60% of the vote in each of his four re-election campaigns.

But more than thirty years later, William L. Guy says he no longer sees old age as a reason to force an incumbent into retirement.

"I could still serve," said the 87-year-old Guy, who served as Governor from 1961 to 1973. “I still have quite a bit to offer".

Guy lost his Senate bid to GOP incumbent Milton Young by just 177 votes statewide. A TV ad would grind any apprehension about Young's age to a halt. The commercial depicted Young, an avid practitioner of the martial arts, karate chop a one-inch board in half with his bare hands.

Quinnipiac University will release a new poll on Monday morning that includes approval ratings on Gov. Jon Corzine and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg. 

Quinnipiac University will release the results of a new poll on the 2008 New Jersey presidential primary on Thursday. Quinnipiac also looked at the impact of New York City Michael Bloomberg on the race.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads every Democratic presidential candidate in New Jersey, and enjoys a massive lead in New Jersey’s 2008 GOP primary, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Among Democrats, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has a 38%-16% lead over Sen. Barack Obama, with former Sen. John Edwards at 9%. Former Vice President Al Gore, who is not a candidate at this time, gets 12% in a New Jersey Democratic primary.

In general election matchups, Giuliani leads Clinton by nine points (49%-40%), Obama by ten points (48%-38%), and Edwards by seven points (48%-41%).

Jon Corzine's 51%-36% approval rating his his best yet, according to a new Quinnipiac University pollDemocratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan said a new Quinnipiac University Institute poll numbers showing Gov. Jon Corzine's approval rating at 51-36 percent, represent good news for Democrats, while a skeptical Tom Wilson, the GOP State Chairman, said the numbers show nothing new, and still reflect voter discontent.

Sparked by increased approval for his property tax reduction plan, the poll results released today are Corzine's highest ever, and show "little apparent effect from his auto accident," according to Quinnipiac.

Gov. Jon Corzine's automobile accident has had little effect on his popularity in New Jersey, which has improved because of his propery tax reduction plan, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.  Corzine's approval rating is at 51%-36%, his best showing since taking office in January 2006.

He was at 51%-36% among 800 voters polled before his accident (April 10-12), and at 52%-35% among the 500 surveyed after extensive media coverage of his injuries (April 12-16).