He's getting a ton of love from the national Republican elite, but Chris Christie's approval ratings at home are softening, according to a new poll.
A Monmouth University survey released Wednesday shows the New Jersey governor with a 47 percent approval rating among state residents, compared to 49 percent who disapprove of his performance. Christie's approval rating is the same as it was in a February Monmouth poll, but his negative number has climbed by 9 points since then.
The state's budget, which is where Christie has made his political bones, seems to be a major factor in the shifting perceptions, according to the pollsters. Last year's budget was controversial, but this year's version isn't making many more friends — just 24 percent say they're happy with it, while 39 percent are not.
And 45 percent think the budget is the result of tough but meaningful choices, while 48 percent think it's the product of routine state politics.
“Two years of austere budgets may be taking a toll on the governor," said Monmouth Polling Institute director Patrick Murray. "Efforts to sell his reform agenda at town hall meetings generate a lot of media attention, but it appears that New Jerseyans who are paying the most attention to these events have already made up their minds about the governor's proposals."
The survey of 807 residents has a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
