Christie's approval ratings continue to plummet on several issues, poll shows

Despite his increasing popularity in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Christie is not exactly winning over voters in his home state. The latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll shows that the governor's approval rating has slipped to it's lowest level to date.

Gov. Chris Christie speaks during the Sunshine Summit in Orlando, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The poll, released late Thursday, shows that Christie's overall job approval now stands at just 33 percent among New Jersey voters. that's a drop of six points since October. To add to the bad news, the governor's disapproval rating has jumped six points to 62 percent.

The governor's numbers have continued to plummet ever since he announced plans to seek the GOP nomination for the 2016 presidential election. In fact, Christie's approval rating is now lower than in the year immediately following the Bridgegate scandal.

“Governor Christie’s good fortune and favorables may be improving on the national campaign trail, but it’s just the opposite in New Jersey,” Koning, assistant director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University said in a press release.

Although, according to the poll, Christie's favorability showed a slight increase in October, his unfavorable rating is back at its all-time high of 59 percent."

"Since August, every poll has consistently found more than half of New Jersey voters in the unfavorable column," Rutgers-Eagleton reported.

When it comes to individual issues, Christie's ratings aren't much better:

Taxes: 23 percent approve, 71 percent disapprove;
Economy and jobs: 30 percent approve, 63 percent disapprove;
State budget: 25 percent approve, 63 percent disapprove;
State pension fund situation: 21 percent approve, 66 percent disapprove;
Education: 33 percent approve, 59 percent disapprove;
Crimes and drugs: 40 percent approve, 46 percent disapprove; and
Transportation and infrastructure: 30 percent approve, 58 percent disapprove.

On area in which voters weren't quite as negative involves the governor's handling of Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts. On that issue, New Jerseyans are closely divided, according to the poll, with 48 percent approving of his performance and 44 percent disapproving. This is still a huge drop from 2013, however. Immediately following the storm, Christie's approval was nearly unanimous among Garden State voters.

But there was a bit of good news. Christie is gaining popularity among GOP candidates, according to registered Republicans who were polled.

"The only bright spot for Christie at home is his return to second place for the 2016 Republican nomination among New Jersey Republican and GOP-leaning registered voters. Christie now stands at 14 percent. Donald Trump remains Republicans’ top choice at 30 percent," Rutgers-Eagleton reported.

Results are from a statewide poll of 843 adults contacted from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6, including 700 registered voters. The registered voter sample has a margin of error of +/-4.1 percentage points.