Poll: Most voters approve new COVID restrictions, still support Murphy

Gov. Phil Murphy’s approval rating continues to slide down from sky-high satisfaction seen last year, but the numbers still work in his favor, a new poll finds.

According to the Monmouth University Polling Institute, 52% of New Jersey voters approve of the job Murphy is doing, compared to 54% in August and 57% in May.

Last year, at the onset of the pandemic, 72% of New Jersey voters approved of the job Murphy was doing, according to a Monmouth poll from April 2020. Voters are still widely supportive of how Murphy handled the COVID-19 pandemic, with 62% saying he’s done a good job.

“Murphy’s handling of the pandemic continues to be his strongest asset,” said Patrick Murray, who heads the institute. “New Jerseyans acknowledge there have been missteps over the past eighteen months, some of them very serious, but that has not noticeably weakened their overall view of his COVID performance.”

The slowdown of Murphy’s sky-high approval ratings was evident in other polls earlier this year. Monmouth’s April poll showed voters had an 80% approval rating of how Murphy was handling COVID-19. And in a June report from the Rutgers Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, 47% of respondents said they had a “favorable impression” of the Democratic governor, down from 54% in October.

Gov. Phill Murphy holds his daily COVID-19 briefing in Trenton on June 9, 2020. - ANN-MARIE CARUSO, GANNETT (Gov's office photo pool coverage) — Gov. Phill Murphy holds his daily COVID-19 briefing in Trenton on June 9, 2020. – ANN-MARIE CARUSO, GANNETT

“The ‘rally around the flag’ effect the pandemic has had on Gov. Murphy’s ratings in the past year is inevitably coming to an end,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor who heads Rutgers Eagleton polling institute.

In the most-recent Monmouth poll, 51% of voters felt Murphy had taken an “appropriate” level of steps to stop the pandemic, while 28% felt he went too far.

Sixty-three percent said they would strongly or somewhat support a new mask mandate, while 36% were opposed to it, according to the poll, which relied on 804 New Jersey voters interviewed by phone between Sept. 16 and Sept. 20. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

But a whole 82% of the respondents felt Murphy’s COVID-19 response has hurt small businesses across the state.

More than half of voters – 53% – felt Murphy could have responded differently in a way that would have spared small businesses some of their economic pain, while 40% said that would not have been possible.

“The governor’s opponents have been trying to focus voters’ attention on what they see as major failings in his handling of COVID,” Murray added. “We don’t see evidence in the poll, though, that knowing about these issues is putting a major dent in Murphy’s number.”

Former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli at August campaign event in Edison. – JACK CIATTARELLI CAMPAIGN

Murphy, a Democrat, is currently campaigning for a second term ahead of November’s gubernatorial election. His opponent, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican, has gone after the governor over the business closures and restrictions he ordered last year, saying they unnecessarily hurt businesses.

But Ciattarelli’s campaign efforts have struggled to make a good sale to New Jersey voters. Monmouth, in another poll that came out on Wednesday, showed Murphy with a 13-point lead, compared to his 16-point lead in an earlier report.

Murray said that Ciattarelli’s three-point catch-up was far from indicative that Murphy risked losing support among voters.

Voters head to the polls on Nov. 2, but mail-in ballots are going out before the end of the month. Next week, Murphy and Ciatarelli go head to head for their first televised debate.

Gap narrows slightly between Murphy, Ciattarelli in new election poll

After a month of campaigning by the state’s Democratic governor and his Republican challenger, public opinion of the candidates largely failed to budge, though GOP candidate Jack Ciatarelli is slowly making ground.

Monmouth University Polling Institute, in a report released Sept. 22, showed Gov. Phil Murphy with a 13-point lead over Republican former Assemblyman Jack Ciatttarelli, compared to a 16-point lead in an August poll.

When asked in August, 52% of voters said they would vote for Murphy if the election were held today, compared to 51% in Wednesday’s poll.

Meanwhile, over the summer, 36% of voters said they would pick Ciattarelli if the election were held today, compared to 38% in the September poll.

Jack Ciattarelli at campaign appearance in Weehawkin. – JACK CIATTARELLI CAMPAIGN

Fifty percent of voters had no opinion of Ciattarelli, compared to 61% in August.

A significant number of voters said they had no real opinion of Ciattarelli’s views, or that they did not know what those views were, according to the poll, which relied on phone interviews with 804 New Jersey voters, conducted between Sept. 16 and Sept. 20.

That “small shift” is mostly due to “self-identified Republicans galvanizing behind the challenger,” the report reads.

Murphy’s favorability was 48% both in the September and August polls. His unfavorable rating went up from 33% in August to 37% this month.

“There have been some small shifts on issue advantages but nothing that has upset the underlying dynamic,” said Patrick Murray, who heads the institute. “Murphy retains a large edge on dealing with the pandemic. Ciattarelli’s ads have hit Murphy on taxes, small businesses, and even on the incumbent’s treatment of women, but the needle has not moved that much.”

Voters are heading to the polls on Nov. 2, but mail-in ballots are going out before the end of the month.

Next week, Murphy and Ciatarelli go head to head for their first televised debate.

‘September shifts’?

Murphy’s campaign has focused on his efforts to “move [the state] forward,” be it with expanded access to K-12 and higher education, a cleaner environment, or with a “stronger and fairer” economy that “works for every family.”

“Our work isn’t finished — and we can’t go back to when New Jersey only worked for the wealthy and well-connected,” the governor said in his campaign filing with the state.

Murphy’s public message has, moreover, relied heavily on his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To that end, 50% of respondents said they’d trust Murphy to handle the pandemic, versus 23% for Ciattarelli. In August, 46% said they’d trust Murphy and 21% said they’d trust Ciattarelli.

Ciattarelli has depicted Murphy as a member of the ultra-wealthy class, hailing from out-of-state and having no real connection to the day-to-day lives of average New Jerseyans. It’s translated to higher taxes, and a higher cost of living and to do business in the Garden State, Ciatarelli says.

Phil Murphy, who has been campaigning on many economic issues, now has the full attention of the business community. — Gov. Phil Murphy, pictured here during his initial campaign for governor. – AARON HOUSTON

“Unlike Phil Murphy, I was born and raised in New Jersey,” reads his campaign statement.

Murphy and his campaign have in turn attacked Ciattarelli on his support of former President Donald Trump. Twenty-two percent of voters said they believe Ciattarelli agreed with Trump’s views, while another 26% said they felt he only voiced support of Trump’s views in order to court his wing’s support. Most New Jersey voters felt that an association of Trump was more of a bad thing, the poll found.

“The Murphy campaign has tried to cast their opponent as a Trump clone,” Murray said. “Maybe they should be planting the idea that Ciattarelli is just paying the Trump wing lip service to dampen GOP enthusiasm for him.”

The poll showed Murphy with a narrower lead on Ciattarelli on jobs and the economy, with 39% saying they’d support Murphy compared to 32% of voters siding with Ciattarelli.

On taxes and small business, Ciatarelli came out ahead, albeit narrowly. Thirty-nine percent of voters felt Ciattarelli would do a better job on taxes compared to 33% who sided with Murphy. Meanwhile, 36% of voters trusted Ciattarelli more to help small businesses, compared to 34% who picked Murphy.

“September shifts are not unheard of in New Jersey elections and we see some potential for a single-digit race in these results,” Murray added. “But we don’t really see movement in the underlying dynamics of this campaign, despite a stream of advertising from both sides.”

The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Poll: Most Americans accept vaccine, mask & COVID mandates

A new poll released by Monmouth University shows that most Americans support the enactment or re-implementation of COVID-19 prevention efforts, such as mask or vaccine mandates and social distancing requirements.

That comes amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, which has surged almost exclusively among unvaccinated Americans both in New Jersey and across the nation. Daily cases and total COVID-19 patient-loads have reached their highest levels in months due to a combination of restrictions having been lifted, and unvaccinated segments of the population.

According to the poll, 63% of Americans would support their state reinstituting a mask mandate, compared to 52% in July.

More than 5.7 million New Jerseyans have been vaccinated out of its 9.4 million residents. The youngest someone can get the shot is the age of 12, with the Pfizer offering. The pharmaceutical giant is reportedly looking at asking for federal authorization to deliver the jab to children as young as 5, which could come later this fall.

In the poll, just over half of respondents – 51% – said they supported a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for children over the age of 12, while 44% were opposed to such a proposal.

Mitigation efforts such as public mask mandates, and reduced capacity at businesses such as bars, restaurants, concerts, entertainment venues and sports matches, have remained lifted since late spring.

As far as a vaccine mandate for activities in public, the poll found that 59% said they would support the requirement for air travel, 55% for indoor arenas like a concert or sporting event, 53% for being at the physical workplace, 50% for going to the gym, and 46% for going to restaurants and for gaining access to outdoor arenas.

Gov. Phil Murphy has held off on saying definitely whether he would ramp up any of these restrictions, beyond vaccine requirements. State health guidance strongly encourages, but does not require, face coverings at indoor public spaces by anyone regardless of their vaccine status.

Earlier this week the governor declined to say whether attending crowded sporting events, such as at the 82,500-person MetLife stadium, should be limited in light of the delta variant’s spread.

Still, 49% of respondents opposed a vaccine requirement for the gym, while 52% opposed it for outdoor arenas, and 51% for dining at a restaurant.

Patrick Murray, director, Monmouth University Polling Institute — Murray

“The delta variant has dampened public confidence that we will get clear of this pandemic. That’s probably playing a role in broad support for mandates and other measures,” reads a Sept. 15 statement from Pat Murray, who heads the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Sixty-six percent of respondents support masking requirements at school for teachers, students and staff, while 60% supported a vaccine mandate for teachers and school employees.

Both teachers and school staff members, as well as state employees and university staff, have until October to get the COVID-19 vaccine, under an order Murphy signed in August.

The poll found that 63% of American adults supported a vaccine mandate for health care workers—a rule that was instituted in New Jersey over the summer, with a Sept. 7 deadline.

Monmouth University interviewed 802 American adults by phone between Sept. 9 and 13 for the poll. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Poll: New Jerseyans concerned over rising health care costs

Consumers for Quality Care on Aug. 23 released key findings from a recent survey of New Jersey voters conducted by ALG Research and Bully Pulpit Interactive.

The poll shows that New Jersey residents remain concerned about the skyrocketing cost of health care, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The rising cost of health care is a major concern for three-quarters of New Jersey voters,” said Danny Franklin, partner, Bully Pulpit Interactive. “The poll shows that 71% of respondents say that their health care costs are rising faster than income levels. That number jumps to 80% among those who are struggling financially. As New Jersey families rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 crisis, they are looking for solutions that lower the cost of care. Voters want to see their elected officials prioritize lowering health care costs.”

Nearly a quarter of all respondents currently have unpaid or overdue medical bills. The disparity increases among both voters of color and those struggling financially. Among respondents of color, 35% say they currently have unpaid or overdue medical bills, while 43% of those struggling financially stated the same.

The rising cost of health care is a major concern for three-quarters of New Jersey voters.
– Danny Franklin, partner, Bully Pulpit Interactive

Addressing the issue of health care affordability remained a priority to respondents.

Voters are looking to Congress for a more targeted approach to fixing the current system, rather than completely transforming it. Overall, 61% of respondents believe Congress should focus more on building upon the current system by making specific fixes, such as reducing out-of-pocket costs, compared to 26% who say Congress should fundamentally transform the health care system and 13% who are unsure.

However, most also agree that lawmakers should be cautious to make changes coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 71% agreeing with this approach.

As for specific solutions, 73% of respondents support permitting non-physician health care practitioners to provide services currently administered by physicians. In addition, 58% support preventing insurance companies from limiting coverage or increasing premiums or copays for COVID-19 survivors.

“This research confirms what many New Jerseyans have been feeling: the out-of-pocket costs for quality health care are too high,” said Donna Christensen, a founding board member of CQC and the first female physician elected to Congress. “With about 18% of Americans with medical debt in collections, it is no wonder why consumers are stressed about the cost of going to the hospital or seeing a doctor. Out-of-pocket costs shouldn’t be so high and unpredictable that they discourage people from seeking care, and insurance should act like insurance and be there for patients when they need it.”

In addition to health care cost concerns, the poll revealed that issues such as out-of-pocket costs including surprise bills, high deductibles, and delaying care due to rising health care costs are top of mind with voters. The results show that voters want their elected officials to focus on driving these costs down, with respondents overwhelmingly stating they would like their leaders to work on driving down costs (54%) over improvement to quality (15%) and access (13%).

Other key findings from the poll include:

78% of respondents agree the amount they pay for health care seems to be going up every year.
52% of respondents agree that at some point in their life, they have struggled to pay a medical bill–even while having health insurance.
72% of respondents are concerned they will receive a surprise medical bill that is thousands of dollars, while 71% are concerned they will be unable to afford a high deductible for the care they need.
66% of respondents are concerned they will need to delay seeking care due to high health care costs, with 60% noting concerns they will be unable to afford their monthly health care premiums

The Consumers for Quality Care poll was conducted via an online survey from July 19 to 25, 2021 with 601 total respondents of registered voters across New Jersey. The poll was conducted by ALG Research and Bully Pulpit Interactive.

Poll: Dems, more than GOP, worried about delta variant, support new restrictions

Democrats are far more likely than Republicans – and to a lesser extent independent voters – to have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, support new pandemic restrictions and actually worry about the severity of the delta variant.

That’s according to a nationwide poll from the Monmouth University Polling Institute released Aug. 2, and it comes as federal health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and at the state level the Murphy administration, urge everyone to wear masks indoors amid this latest surge.

“[B]ecause of the partisan divide in the country, as a whole … it’s affected the pandemic from the very state in a way that probably in the past, we would have more public unity,” said Patrick Murray, who heads the institute.

Under the latest guidance, anyone in high-transmission areas – virtually any indoor public place – should wear a face-covering regardless of their vaccination status.

Cases and total hospitalizations have risen to their highest levels in months in what Gov. Phil Murphy and many public health experts and officials have frequently called a “pandemic among the unvaccinated.”

Daily cases rose past 1,000 on July 29 for the first time since May 8, and hospitalizations have continued to rise past 400 total COVID-19 patients–the highest since the spring.

The transmission rate, positivity rate among tests, and the number of patients on ventilators and in critical care have all also crept to their highest levels since the spring.

Just over 5.1 million people who live, work or study in New Jersey have been fully vaccinated out of the state’s 9 million residents, with nearly 257,000 of them being children as young as 12.

“It put us just at the edge of potentially being able to deal with this” variant, Murray said of the current vaccination rates. “If the variants are more infectious, that means you have less of a breathing room.”

According to internal documents from the CDC, the delta variant could spread as easily as the chickenpox – across those who are vaccinated, even though the inoculation nonetheless makes the person safer from the adverse health effects of the virus.

But the nationwide poll, which relied on the responses of 804 American adults interviewed by phone between July 21 and 26, showed largely divided reactions to the latest development of the pandemic based on political affiliation.

Picking sides

And at the state level, Republican former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, who is running for governor, has aggressively courted the “vaccine freedom” voting constituent, arguing that parents should have new means to exempt their school-age children from all manner of immunizations, especially the COVID-19 shot, as well as shots such as measles and mumps.

According to the poll, 92% of Democratic respondents said they’ve already received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to 51% of Republicans and 59% of independent voters. Among Republicans, 31% said they will “likely never get” the shot.

While demand was high for the vaccine in the winter and spring, that has slowed dramatically both in New Jersey and nationwide.

“The folks that are hesitant and continue to be hesitant can be convinced with better outreach” and “more effective communication,” Murray continued.

Ninety-one percent of Democrats said they were very or somewhat concerned about a new wave because not enough people have gotten vaccinated, compared to 57% of independents and 47% of Republicans.

While 48% of Democrats were concerned that a family member could get COVID-19, just 22% of Republicans shared those fears, compared to 21% of independents.

According to the report, 71% of Democrats were very or somewhat concerned about catching the delta variant, compared to 40% of independents and 30% of Republicans.

Monmouth found that 60% of Democrats felt that the CDC’s messaging about the pandemic has been “largely consistent.” On the other hand, 79% of Republicans and 63% of voters felt the CDC put out “mixed messages.”

The margin of error in the poll was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Poll: As COVID wanes, NJ parents struggle to bring kids back to daycare

As New Jersey emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, a new poll finds many parents struggling to find adequate child care, a much-touted obstacle for transitioning residents back to the workforce.

That’s according to a report released July 21 and prepared jointly by Fairleigh Dickinson University and the nonprofit Nicholson Foundation based in Newark.

The poll found that 45% of respondents were dependent on family for child care, while 35% had no child care at all. It relied on responses from 764 New Jersey adults with children up to 3 years of age interviewed between May and June 8.

Of those 35% who had no child care, nearly half – 41% – had annual household incomes of less than $50,000.

“A post-pandemic economic boom will put pressure on labor markets, and employers may find it increasingly difficult to attract the workers they need,” reads a statement in the poll from Steven Barnett, senior co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research.

More than half – 54% – of parents without child care cited the fact that they are a stay-at-home parent, while 25% cited the cost and 23% said they were still worried about COVID-19.

Hundreds of child care facilities were forced to close during the onset of the pandemic, with the exception of centers that looked after children of essential workers and first responders.

If New Jersey invests wisely in expanding options for quality child care, including raising child care reimbursement rates if needed to recruit providers, parents, businesses and the state treasury will benefit in the long run.
– Steven Barnett, senior co-director, National Institute for Early Education Research

The poll found that 31% of respondents said their child went at least six weeks without child care. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they were able to work from home and look over their kid, while 36% said they needed to take time off from work to do so.

“If New Jersey invests wisely in expanding options for quality child care, including raising child care reimbursement rates if needed to recruit providers, parents, businesses and the state treasury will benefit in the long run,” Barnett said.

To that end, Gov. Phil Murphy last month approved the use of $100 million in federal COVID-relief funds for the child care industry.

“Without access to child care, many New Jerseyans are unable to work to provide for themselves and their families,” the governor said in a July 2 statement.

Federal dollars will go to child care businesses could use to improve their brick and mortar facilities, and money for workforce development and technical assistance, under the new law.

“This law is important to the entire business community, not just the child care industry, because, without access to safe child care, parents cannot return to work,” reads a statement from Chrissy Buteas, who heads government affairs for the New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

New poll shows most in NJ want $10K SALT cap lifted

Two-thirds of New Jersey adults said they want the Biden administration to scrap a $10,000 federal cap on tax breaks they can claim for their state and local taxes, according to a July 12 poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

The $10,000 cap on state and local property tax deductions – or the SALT deduction – was passed as part of the 2017 federal tax breaks signed by then-President Donald Trump, a Republican. It places a $10,000 limit that homeowners can claim in state and local taxes when filing their income taxes each year.

And it’s been blasted by representatives from higher tax, typically Democratic, states like New Jersey and neighboring New York, where the annual property tax bill could be more than double the federal cap.

Gov. Phil Murphy holds a press conference on the IRS response to the State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction on Aug. 24, 2018 in Trenton. – NJ GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

FDU found in its poll that 63% of adults felt the full property tax deduction should be restored, including 64% of Republicans, 63% of Democrats and 60% of independents.

Roughly a quarter of respondents – 26% – hadn’t heard of the cap at all, according to the FDU poll, which relied on the responses of 803 New Jersey voters interviewed via phone between June 9 and 16. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.

“In a rare instance of bipartisanship, equal proportions of Democrats and Republicans say the SALT cap should be removed,” the FDU press release states.

House Democrats have tried since 2018 to have the cap lifted, but those efforts were blocked in the previously Republican-led U.S. Senate.

“Like so many of President Trump’s efforts, capping SALT deductions was based on politics, not logic or good government,” reads an early April letter to President Joe Biden from Gov. Phil Murphy and six other Democratic governors. “This assault disproportionately targeted Democratic-run states, increasing taxes on hardworking families.”

New Jersey is largely seen as one of the costliest places in the nation to live, along with neighbors New York and Connecticut. The cost of living has driven intense political debate about whether more people were moving into New Jersey or fleeing the state en masse.

“[S]upport for restoring the deduction is pretty close to universal,” said Dan Cassino, a political science professor at FDU, who led the poll.

And the support is despite the vast swathes of New Jersey voters – “renters, people with mortgages, anyone who doesn’t itemize their deductions” – that “may not even notice the difference,” Cassino added.

“For all the coverage that the SALT cap has gotten in the press, it doesn’t directly impact everyone,” said Cassino. “Renters, people with mortgages, anyone who doesn’t itemize their deductions, they may not even notice the difference.”

Willingness beyond the New York and New Jersey congressional delegations to lift the SALT cap is more uncertain in Washington, D.C.

None of Biden’s massive stimulus plans this spring included a provision to lift the cap, and progressive stalwarts such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – a Democrat from the Bronx – have decried the repeal as “a giveaway to the rich.”

Poll: Lingering pandemic could squash July Fourth tourism surge

Is the COVID-19 pandemic finally over? A new poll released June 28 found many Americans worry enough about COVID-19 that they still intend to curtail upcoming July Fourth and ensuing summer plans.

According to the Monmouth University Polling Institute, 54% of American adults said they plan to attend a July Fourth barbeque, compared to 69% in 2019, before the pandemic.

Twenty-six percent of respondents said they would attend a fireworks event, compared to 51% in 2019. Eighteen percent of respondents said they would attend a July Fourth parade, compared to 28% in 2019.

Republicans were more likely than Democrats to take part in any of those activities, according to the Monmouth poll, which counts on the responses of 810 American adults interviewed via the telephone between June 9 and 14. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

“Months ago, President Joe Biden expressed hope that the Fourth of July holiday would ‘begin to mark our independence from this virus,’” the June 28 report reads. “The Monmouth University Poll, though, finds a sizable number of Americans will be holding back on their typical holiday festivities this weekend.”

Summertime sadness?

Many tourism insiders across the Jersey Shore – a multi-billion dollar cash cow for the state – said they expect a drawn-out tourism rebound as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, the spread of the pandemic wanes and more people receive the vaccine. Casinos, entertainment and event operators at Atlantic City said they expect a 2021 summer rebound.

Jeffrey Vasser, who heads the state’s Division of Travel and Tourism, said he expects this summer will fare better than 2020 when many COVID-19 restrictions were in effect and a vaccine had not yet been released to the public. But they’d still struggle to overtake some of the record-breaking tourism metrics seen in 2019.

A May report released by the state tourism office found that state tourism visitation dropped by 27% from a “record-breaking” 116 million visitors in 2019 to 86.4 million tourists in 2020. Tourist spending dropped 37% from $46.4 billion in 2019 to $29.4 billion in 2020, breaking a decade of growth that began in 2009 following the Great Recession.

One reason for the sluggish rebound starting this summer, according to Vasser and other business owners, are the hiring shortages that have plagued the retail, restaurant, entertainment and hospitality industries which make up the lion’s share of the Jersey Shore economy.

Jeffrey Vasser, executive director, New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism. — Vasser

But, Vasser continued, the hesitancy for tourists to board an airplane, coupled with both restrictions and waning interest on international travel, means drive-in markets such as the Jersey Shore could have a leg up this summer.

The Monmouth poll found that 14% of Americans planned to travel within 200 miles of their home, 27% planned to travel further away, and 52% had no trip planned. Thirty-four percent of respondents said their plans are the same as any other summer, while 26% said they scaled back or canceled this year’s summer travel plans.

“Overseas trips have taken the biggest hit, but the number taking a vacation closer to home really hasn’t changed,” said Patrick Murray, who heads the polling institute. “While some travelers are downgrading their plans, others are simply opting to wait at least another year before resuming summer travel.”

Before the onset of COVID-19 and ensuing restrictions, 13% of Americans said they planned to travel closer to home, though that dropped just to 11% following the onset of the pandemic. Travel plans for further away from home dropped from 33% before COVID-19 to just 12% once the pandemic took hold.

Murphy holds 15-point lead over Ciattarelli

A poll released June 21 shows incumbent first-term Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, with a 15 point lead over his Republican challenger, former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli–and many voters having never heard of the former lawmaker.

Fairleigh Dickinson University in its latest poll found that 48% of New Jersey voters would pick Murphy, while 33% said they would select Ciattarelli. That’s amid a slide of Murphy’s overall poll numbers into lukewarm territory as the state moves away from a global pandemic that triggered surges last year in his public approval.

An entire 53% of voters said they had no opinion of the GOP challenger, and 17% had never even heard of the former Somerset County lawmaker.

FDU interviewed 803 New Jersey voters on the phone between June 9 and 16 for the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.94 percentage points.

Former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli declares victory in the Republican primary race to run for governor on June 9, 2021. – DANIEL J. MUNOZ

“Ciattarelli has his work cut out for him,” said Dan Cassino, a political science professor at FDU who runs the poll. “Being unknown is better than being disliked, but running ads in New Jersey to build up awareness is an expensive proposition.”

Public voting records, in fact, show New Jersey with 1 million more registered Democrats than there are Republicans.

Murphy garnered 84% approval in the race from Democrats, while Ciattarelli enjoyed a 77% approval rating among the Republican electorate. Ciattarelli led Murphy among independent voters by a 28% to 23% lead.

Running up that hill

“Democrats have a significant edge in New Jersey,” Cassino added. “So, in order to win statewide, Republican candidates need to outperform a generic candidate, and so far, Ciatterelli just isn’t doing that.”

Ciattarelli’s uphill battle was evident in another poll, which came out just before the primaries on June 8, this one by the Rutgers Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling.

It showed that 56% of voters said they would pick Murphy as governor if the elections were “held today,” compared to just 24% Ciattarelli.

Many New Jerseyans, 52%, simply had never heard of Ciattarelli before, according to the Eagleton poll, while another 26% said they had no opinion.

“New Jersey has seen some uncompetitive gubernatorial races the past couple of cycles, and this race does not seem to be the exception right now,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor who heads the polling institute.

Ahead of primaries, Murphy’s approval slides from 2020 pandemic high

Although Gov. Phil Murphy faces little party resistance in the June 8 primary, a new poll shows the first-term Democrat’s approval numbers continue to slide down from their record-high amid the pandemic last year.

And now, as the Republican party squares up who Murphy’s potential political opponent for the seat of governor will be in November, many voters say their attention has turned to more run-of-the-mill issues such as taxes.

That’s according to a June 7 poll from the Rutgers Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling.

In this latest report, 47% of respondents said they had a “favorable impression” of the Democratic governor, down from 54% in October. Thirty-six percent of respondents said they had an “unfavorable” impression of Murphy according to the June poll, compared to 28% in October.

Gov. Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy visit Battle River Brewing in Tom’s River on Friday, June 4, 2021. – EDWIN J. TORRES/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

In this recent poll, 55% of people approved of the job Murphy was doing as governor, compared to 62% in October. Murphy’s disapproval rating stood at 40% in the June poll, up from 33% in October.

Two contenders are vying for the GOP nomination to try and unseat Murphy from his seat as governor come this November: Hirsh Singh and former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli from Somerset County.

Just 7% of respondents gave him an “A” on his handling of taxes, according to the poll, which relied on phone interviews with 1,004 New Jersey adults, conducted between May 21 and 29. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

The poll found that 31% gave Murphy an “F” for how he was handling property taxes, while 19% gave him a “D,” 23% gave him a “C” and 20% gave him a “B.”

“If we get back to normal, it’s possible that other issues become very important standard economic issues – property taxes, cost of living, those are the things that matter most,” Patrick Murray, who heads the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a December interview.

Indeed, most of the COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and public gatherings have been lifted in the past month. Face coverings and social distancing are no longer required indoors among fully vaccinated patrons.

But Murray suggested that a return to the pre-pandemic lifestyle could mean a return to the less impressive pre-pandemic poll numbers that Murphy saw before the onset of COVID-19.

Murphy’s approval rating in a Monmouth University poll from early this May stood at 57%, compared to 71% in 2020. And less than half of New Jersey adults in the poll – 48% – felt Murphy deserved a second term.

New poll shows wide support for vaccine requirement in daily life

A new poll from Rutgers University shows broad support for vaccines as a requirement in many aspects of public life.

The COVID-19 vaccine is widely seen as a vital step for meaningfully and permanently returning to pre-pandemic life. Restrictions across the board have been lifted in the state over the past month, with more than 4.1 million New Jersey adults having gotten the shot, and the spread of the virus cratering.

A final tranche of reopenings went into effect the morning of June 4. Masks and social distancing are no longer required for indoor settings for anyone fully vaccinated. The Murphy administration’s self-imposed goals call for fully vaccinating 4.7 million adults by the end of this month, and efforts include incentives, perks and direct community outreach to get that final half a million arms.

And Gov. Phil Murphy said he’ll sign a law lifting the COVID-19 public health emergency, which has been in effect since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Under the law, he will be able to keep a broad array of powers in order to continue the vaccine efforts and respond to potential outbreaks, but those powers will expire at the start of next year.

Sixty-six percent of respondents supported a vaccine requirement for university students who want to return to campus, according to the June 4 poll from the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University, which relied on responses from 1,001 New Jersey adults interviewed by phone between May 21 and 29.

Many of the state’s largest universities are requiring students to get the vaccine before returning to campus this fall.

Sixty-one percent of residents said they would support some type of credential or “vaccine passport” that would establish evidence that someone was inoculated against COVID-19. Such a proposal has become a politically and culturally dividing topic across the nation, with GOP-led states enacting laws prohibiting the use of a vaccine requirement in daily life.

Under New Jersey’s current reopening guidelines, unvaccinated patrons have to wear face coverings, but short of customers showing their vaccination records, businesses will instead need to rely on their good word.

“If you’re not vaccinated, we expect you to have a higher standard of care … We’re not going to put the workers in harm’s way … What we’re very clearly asking folks is for personal responsibility, if you’re not vaccinated, we ask you to do the right thing,” the governor said on May 24.

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center announced in April that beginning this summer season it will require all patrons to have the COVID-19 vaccine, or test negative for the virus, to gain entry to the venue. - NJBIZ FILE PHOTO — The New Jersey Performing Arts Center announced in April that beginning this summer season it will require all patrons to have the COVID-19 vaccine, or test negative for the virus, to gain entry to the venue. – NJBIZ FILE PHOTO

But without a vaccine requirement or some means to verify someone’s vaccination status public health experts and labor rights groups said that many patrons will not wear the mask and simply lie when asked if they’ve gotten the vaccine.

“Sadly, I suspect there’ll be a minority of people who will do that,” the governor said.

Establishments like the New Jersey Performing Arts Center based in Newark said they will require patrons to show either proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test in order to gain admission.

The poll found that 61% of respondents supported a vaccine requirement for employees before they can physically return to work. Under the latest reopening guidelines, employers do not have to enforce mask usage and social distancing at their offices among fully vaccinated workers.

Ashley Koning, head of the polling center, noted an extreme partisan divide in responses.

“Like with many aspects of the pandemic, Republicans are in opposition to such requirements, while Democrats are in favor, and independents lie somewhere in between,” Koning said. “Vaccination status has also become another dividing line.”

Select Region or Brand

Upcoming Event

Tag: poll