50 Days Out, Christie Holding On To Lead

The gap has narrowed somewhat, but the latest Monmouth University/Gannett poll of the New Jersey gubernatorial race shows Chris Christie (R) still well ahead of Gov. Jon Corzine (D).

General Election Matchup -- Likely Voters
Christie 47 (-3 from last poll, 8/4)
Corzine 39 (+3)
Daggett 5 (+1)
Don't Know 7 (-1)

There were no major shifts in the candidates' favorability ratings. That's bad news for Corzine, who still has a high net-negative rating. Independent candidate Daggett is still an unknown.

Favorable Rating
Corzine 37 / 53
Christie 48 / 30
Daggett 11 / 6

Corzine's approval rating among likely voters is 34 percent, with 58 percent disapproving. Voters say that on the key issues -- economy and taxes -- Christie would do a better job than Corzine.

But New Jersey Democrats point to the fact that Christie hasn't cleared the 50 percent hurdle. And Monmouth's pollster finds that the electorate is still unsettled. “A Republican holding a steady poll lead is unprecedented in recent New Jersey elections and this shouldn't be discounted. But the results also indicate there is a lot of churning in this electorate. Despite the incumbent's continued unpopularity, there is still a sense that anything can happen," Patrick Murray said in a release.

The survey of 531 likely voters was conducted September 8-10, and had a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percent.

With 50 days left until Election Day, the RCP Average has Christie with a lead of 6.8 percent.

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