If the new Quinnipiac Poll is correct, Chris Christie is headed to what may well be the biggest re-election margin any New Jersey Governor has over seen:
The odds that state Sen. Barbara Buono, the Democratic nominee for governor, will pull off an upset against the popular Republican incumbent, Gov. Chris Christie, are getting ever-slimmer , according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this morning .
The poll of 1,249 likely voters shows Buono trailing Christie by a stunning 34-point gap, 64 percent to 30 percent.
“There’s no silver lining for State Sen. Barbara Buono in the cloudy outlook for her campaign,” Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said.
Buono supporters had expressed hope of a revived race last month after a Monmouth University poll found Christie’s lead over Buono had shrunk to 20 points from 30 points, but since this is Quinnipiac’s first poll using a likely voter model, there are no previous comparisons.
In the poll made public today, Chrsitie holds a wide lead among both men and women. Ninety-four percent of Republicans support Christie, as do 69 percent of independents. Buono leads among Democrats 60 percent to 35 percent.
“Even a third of Democrats prefer Gov. Christopher Christie,” Carroll said. “And, although the Buono campaign and Buono’s political background are big on women’s issues, even women favor Christie.”
Among other interesting items in the poll [PDF] is the fact that Christie garners 61% of the women’s vote and 36% of the African-American vote, numbers that Republicans normally only dream about. But, of course, to the base he’s just a RINO who said nice things about President Obama last year.
