NJ Voters Like Christie’s Budget Performance Better Than Obama’s

New Jersey voters give President Obama the edge over Governor Chris Christie in a hypothetical 2012 matchup, but they think their governor is doing a better job than the president when it comes to handling current budget problems.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely New Jersey Voters finds that 46% give Christie good or excellent marks for the way he has handled New Jersey’s budget crisis. Thirty-five percent (35%) rate his performance as poor. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

On the other hand, 38% of Garden State voters think Obama has done a good or excellent job handling the federal budget crisis, while 41% give him poor marks in this area.

Among all New Jersey voters, 53% at least somewhat approve of the job Christie is doing as governor, including 30% who Strongly Approve. That’s in line with surveys since he took office early last year.  Forty-four percent (44%) at least somewhat disapprove of Christie’s performance, with 31% who Strongly Disapprove.

Findings are similar for Obama in the Democratic-leaning state, with 53% who somewhat approve and 46% who somewhat disapprove of the job he’s doing in the White House. This includes 32% who Strongly Approve and 39% who Strongly Disapprove. This is comparable to Obama’s ratings in New Jersey just before Christie’s election in November 2009 and is slightly higher job approval than he earns nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls).  Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook. 

The survey of 500 Likely Voters in New Jersey was conducted on May 26, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.