The majority of New Jersey Republicans put Gov. Chris Christie on top when it comes to his presidential prospects, but it's not all good news for the governor.

Chris Christie
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at the Road to Majority 2015 convention in Washington, Friday, June 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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According to a new Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) PublicMind poll released Monday, registered Republicans in New Jersey like Christie in a presidential primary race, but not necessarily in a general election.

"Gov. Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are tied among Garden State Republicans in the 2016 presidential nomination contest," said Krista Jenkins, professor of political science at FDU and executive director of PublicMind. "Christie gets 18 percent support as does Jeb Bush. Behind them is Donald Trump at 11 percent."

Despite the support, Garden State Republicans also identify Christie and Trump as candidates they would never support in the general election, regardless of who the Democratic opponent turns out to be.

"Half of registered Republicans, or 52 percent, say they could identify someone whom they would never support in a general election," Jenkins said. Of the 52 percent, 27 percent said they could never support Trump and 22 percent they could never support Christie.

The survey suggested that Christie and Trump both evoke a lot of passion from those who support them, as well as those who do not. According to Jenkins, that separates them from others who might come across as boring.

The survey also asked New Jersey voters for their opinions on Democratic presidential contenders. Sixty-three percent of registered voters support Hillary Clinton, 15 percent favor Bernie Sanders and 3 percent favor Martin O'Malley.

Only 19 percent of Democratic voters identified a candidate they could never support. Of that group, Clinton leads the pack with 29 percent of the vote.

Multiple sources said Christie will announce on Tuesday that he is running for president.

The poll was conducted by phone from June 15-21, 2015 with randomly selected statewide sample of 792 self-identified registered voters. Results have a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.7 points.

 

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