Even with former President Donald J. Trump fighting an avalanche of legal battles, the majority of Republicans in New Jersey still don’t want to see former Governor Chris Christie as the next President of the United States.
According to a Farleigh Dickinson University poll, just 29% of Republicans in his home state said they would vote for Christie over Trump.
The FDU Poll found that former President Donald Trump is the clear favorite among New Jersey Republicans in a possible 2024 Republican Presidential primary, with 40% saying they would “definitely” support him. However, the same poll found that only 25% of Republicans would consider supporting former Governor Chris Christie. Trump’s legal challenges, however, may be helping potential challengers. While support for Trump remained unchanged, Republicans became more open to supporting Christie when asked about Trump’s legal woes.
“Being indicted and subjected to multiple investigations that could lead to more indictments hasn’t hurt Trump’s standing in the party,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of Government and Politics at FDU, and the director of the poll. “But that doesn’t mean that his legal problems aren’t helping potential challengers.”
The poll found that regardless of whether respondents were asked about Trump’s legal challenges before or after being asked about their support for Christie or Trump, 40 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they would “definitely” support Trump. The indictments did not seem to have any effect on this number.