At the start of his sixth year as governor of New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy has a robust 52%-36% job approval rating among registered voters, according to a new Monmouth University poll released this morning.
The two-term Democratic governor’s approval rating is reasonably stable. A Monmouth survey conducted in April 2022 placed his approval rating at 55%-35%.
Murphy is in solid political shape as Democrats prepare to defend majorities in both chambers of the state in November’s midterm Senate and Assembly elections under a redrawn map that provides Republicans with a route to victory.
Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, remarked, “Murphy appears to be maintaining his position.” “His approval rating is above water in a state where Democrats have a lead in voter registration, but he does not appear to have achieved a big legacy achievement that New Jerseyans can point to as a characteristic of his administration.”
53% of New Jerseyans, not just those who are registered to vote, approve of his job performance.
Murphy’s favourable rating is 46% to 41% among independents, 84% to 5% among Democrats, and 16% to 74% among Republicans, according to a Monmouth survey. He is most well-liked by New Jerseyans of colour (66%-19%), women (59%-28%) and inhabitants of Central Jersey (58%-32%), while he draws the most opposition from men (47%-42%) and residents of South Jersey (48%-38%).
When asked what Phil Murphy has accomplished as governor since taking office in January 2018, 29% of New Jerseyans said he has had some important accomplishments, 42% said his accomplishments have been little, and 26% said he has had no substantial accomplishments. According to the Monmouth poll, these results are comparable to those of previous surveys.
Democrats have a more favourable opinion of Murphy’s accomplishments, with 48% describing them as significant, 39% as small, and only 9% as nonexistent.
The New Jersey Legislature has approval ratings of 44%-36%, which have remained relatively stable over the past two years. The generic ratings for the legislature have decreased from 54%-27% in April 2020, when Murphy’s approvals during the pandemic spiked to 71%-21%, to 43%-42% in September 2019, immediately before the most recent legislative midterm election.
In example, the Republican governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, had job approval ratings of 38%-40% in a Monmouth survey conducted on February 15; three months later, after federal prosecutors revealed indictments in the Bridgegate case, his support ratings plummeted to 35%-54%.
A February 1999 Quinnipiac poll indicated that after five years in office, Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman had approval ratings of 58% to 33%. In a contest for the United States Senate, Whitman led three-term Democrat Frank Lautenberg by nine percentage points, 50%-41%, according to the same survey.
The Monmouth University Poll was conducted between January 5 and 9 with an 809-person sample size and a margin of error of +/- 4.7%. Before Murphy’s annual State of the State address on January 10, 2023, a poll was conducted.
North Jersey is comprised of the counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union, and Warren; Central Jersey is Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Somerset; and South Jersey is comprised of the counties of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem.
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