As Bridgegate scuttles Gov. Christie’s approval numbers, some say an apology would be enough

Governor Christie’s voter approval rating is now at a record low in New Jersey. Only 38 percent of New Jersey voters surveyed by Quinnipiac University approve of the job Christie is doing. Fifty-six percent disapprove.

 

Pollster Maurice Carroll says the new low in the governor’s ratings reflect continuing trouble from the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge more than a year-and-a-half ago.

“Did he do Bridgegate? Voters don’t think so. Did he know about it? They think he did and the overall impact clearly has driven him down in public approval,” Carroll said.

If it’s proven that Christie did order the lane closures or knew what his aides were doing, 34 percent of voters say he should be removed from office. Twenty-nine percent say an apology would be enough.

The majority of New Jersey voters say Christie would not be a good President and don’t want him to run for the White House.

“There’s no question about it,” Carroll said. “Bridgegate took him out of the running, the top running, as a Republican Presidential candidate. He still leads in New Jersey among Republican primary voters. That’s in New Jersey. Just about everywhere else in the nation he’s down, down, down in the pack.”

While Christie has been busy campaigning in New Hampshire, his home state is still waiting to see what will come of a U.S. Attorney’s office investigation of Bridgegate.  Several times, news organizations have reported that indictments are imminent, but so far that hasn’t happened. 

Christie has maintained that he was lied to by key members of his staff about the lane closures.  He fired some, and others left in the year or so since the scandal erupted.  Neither an investigation by the New Jersey Legislature nor one by a law firm hired by Gov. Christie has found evidence the governor knew about the closures ahead of time.  But some key witnesses did not cooperate with those investigations.