Clinton leads Christie in N.J. presidential preference poll

Results of a new poll released Wednesday show New Jersey voters may not back Gov. Chris Christie for president in 2016.

While the Republican’s national star is still shining bright, a Quinnipiac University poll shows him trailing Hillary Clinton, the presumed Democratic front-runner.

Assistant poll director Mickey Carroll said the numbers — 50 percent for Clinton, 42 percent for Christie — aren’t surprising given that the Garden State bleeds blue.

The controversy still swirling around the September lane closures on the George Washington Bridge also don’t help, he added.

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Christie has “been hammered relentlessly in the New Jersey media because of this Bridgegate thing. It seems to be losing steam, even in New Jersey, but it’s still there,” said Carroll.

The poll also asked voters about this year’s U.S. Senate race in New Jersey.

Democrat and incumbent Corey Booker leads his Republican challenger Jeff Bell by 10 percentage points, 47 to 37.

It’s a slimmer margin than Carroll would have expected.

“Booker is certainly a known, national figure [and] would be expected, at this stage, to do better against a guy who is virtually anonymous,” he said.

The poll revealed that most voters, even Republicans, didn’t know enough about Bell to given an opinion on him.

Pollsters questioned 1,148 registered voters in New Jersey.

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