Garden State residents believe Gov. Phil Murphy is more concerned about his own political future (45%) than he is with governing the state (45%), according to a Monmouth University Poll that also showed only three out of ten people in the state think the Democratic governor is presidential material.
A majority— 56% — said Murphy wouldn’t make a good president, and only one in four residents say Murphy still has no real accomplishments to point to.
This compares to 1 in 10 who said the same about his predecessor.
“Murphy got a bit of a scare from voters who took part in last year’s election, but he appears to have recovered a bit as far as all his constituents are concerned,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
One-third of New Jerseyans (33%) say Phil Murphy helps the state’s image around the country and one-quarter (24%) say he hurts New Jersey’s image, while 40% say the governor makes no difference. At the same point in Christie’s term, 29% said he helped New Jersey’s national image, 33% said he hurt it, and 34% said he made no difference.
“The public does not see Murphy as being as ambitious as Christie was. Some political observers say that isn’t true, but he doesn’t wear those ambitions on his sleeve like his predecessor did. Of course, Christie was much more of a media magnet, which heightened speculation about him,” said Murray.
Fewer than 4 in 10 New Jersey residents believe that Murphy is planning to run for president someday (5% say he definitely is and 32% say probably). This contrasts with Christie. A solid majority of New Jersey voters thought the Republican had his eye on the White House while he was running for reelection as governor.
“Murphy’s narrow re-election numbers suggest that any national prospects would be laughable but once the faux-progressive millionaire was subjected to the scrutiny of the national press, his record of lying, failure, and ineptitude would come to light,” said James J. Devine, a progressive Democratic strategist. “Murphy made the minimum wage in New Jersey $5.13 an hour, set 20-year prison sentences for marijuana possession, and after he hired a rapist to a six-figure job this Governor appointed the lawyer allegedly responsible for keeping him in the dark about those sexual assault allegations to the post of attorney general. Thousands died from Covid and 40 percent of New Jersey residents cannot afford to live here, so that is not a record on which to run for president.”
`
You must log in to post a comment.