Poll: Christie leads Corzine by double-digits in New Jersey

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After two months worth of heavy campaigning and fierce attacks aimed at his opponent New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is essentially back to where he began.

A new Rasmussen poll has Corzine trailing Republican nominee Chris Christie by a margin of 50-37%. The thirteen-point spread shows a widening gap between the two candidates and comes as unpleasant news to the sitting Democratic Governor who seemed to be on the rebound just a month ago.

As previously reported here in the beginning of July, Governor Corzine had begun to close the gap between he and his Republican opponent. Rasmussen Reports showed that Corzine was trailing Christie by seven percentage points – a deficit to be certain but not an impossible hole to dig out of. The now current thirteen-point lead for Chris Christie holds steady when “leaners” are included and the margin remains unchanged from initial polls taken back in June after he secured the Republican nomination.

Not surprisingly 84% of New Jersey Republicans now support Christie’s campaign for Governor. The truly disastrous numbers for Corzine however are that only 64% of Democrats favor the sitting Governor and Christie leads by a whopping 45-points amongst "unaffiliated" voters. Rasmussen poll numbers also indicate that Corzine’s approval rating with New Jersey voters has dropped to 37%. President Obama who has been called upon to stump for the embattled Governor still has a 56% approval rating in New Jersey, but now only 38% of Garden State residents think Obama’s campaigning will actually boost Corzine’s chances of victory in the fall.

The Rasmussen sample of 500-voters remains relatively small and even they point to historical trends that have shown Democratic politicians in New Jersey rebounding late in campaign seasons. That said major publications like Time magazine were quick to jump on the bad news in a recent issue pointing to the “re-election woes” for Corzine. Furthermore a host of other polls show similarly grim numbers for the Democratic Governor.

Research 2000/Daily Kos figures have Christie leading 48-40% and Corzine’s approval rating buried at 35%. Monmouth University meanwhile shows the Republican challenger leading by fourteen-points amongst likely voters. Public Policy Polling reflected those totals and closely mirrored the Rasmussen survey by showing Christie with a 50-36% lead over New Jersey Governor Corzine.

Perhaps it is premature to call the race a long shot for the sitting Governor. After all, Democrats outnumber Republicans by fourteen-points in New Jersey and the large block of unaffiliated voters (46%) tends to lean poitically left in the Garden State. Still with less than three months remaining until Election Day its safe to say the Corzine Campaign is trending down if not out.