Governor Chris Christie Appeal Among Americans Is Bipartisan

New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, left, listens as Gov. Chris Christie announces that Chiesa will temporarily fill the U.S. Senate seat, June 6, 2013, in Trenton, N.J. (Mel Evans/AP Photo)

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, my old governor, has broad bipartisan appeal among the American people, and as they get to know him more, Governor Christie has had the rare fortune to experience an increase in favorability.

Christie’s name identification is at 72%, which is up from the 49% of Americans who knew enough about him to have an opinion in March of 2011. From then until now, his favorable ratings have almost doubled, while his unfavorable ratings have dropped by two percentage points – rare indeed.

Among Democrats and independents, his favorability ratings are 52% and 50% respectively, while the governor is viewed as favorable by 58% of his own party. This is the most concerning variable for the governor’s prospects of a run for the White House in 2016, as most unfavorable opinion also comes from his own party – 23%. That is 3 points higher than unfavorables views among independents and 5 points higher than among Democrats.

In his home state, it appears Governor Chris Christie is cruising to reelection. In the latest Kean University poll, the governor’s approval rating among registered voters in New Jersey is 71%, and 69% approved in the latest NBC/Marist poll of registered voters.

In a head-to-head matchup against the Democratic front-runner state Sen. Barbara Buono, Christie is crushing the likely Democratic nominee 60% to 28%, as 42% of Obama supporters say they would vote for Governor Christie. Among independents, the governor enjoys a wide margin of 64% to 22%.

In a state that went 17% for Obama in the 2012 election, whatever your personal distrust may be, a presidential nominee who looks to handily have the ability to turn solid blue states red, may very well be a problem for team Hillary – or whoever the Democratic nominee is. Of course, Christie’s ability to hold such a favorable opinion over a three-year period is anything but predetermined.

On another note, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, has officially thrown his name into the New Jersey Senate race. Christie recently ticked off both parties by making the decision to appoint Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, to fill the seat of the late-Senator Frank Lautenberg D-NJ.