Poll: Cory Booker in Fourth Place in Home State of New Jersey

A poll released Thursday from the Monmouth University Polling Institute revealed that Democrat presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is in fourth place in his home state of New Jersey in the race for president.

According to the survey, which received responses from 713 New Jersey adults, Booker received nine percent support from New Jersey residents in the poll for president, trailing former Vice President Joe Biden (26 percent), Democrat Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (20 percent), and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (18 percent). Democrat California Sen. Kamala Harris, who received six percent support from New Jersey residents and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who received six percent support, are the only other candidates who garnered more than two percent support.

The poll indicates that 45 percent of New Jersey residents approve of Booker’s performance as a United States senator, and 37 percent disapprove. Eighteen percent have no opinion of his performance.

Whereas registered voters surveyed gave Booker a 45 percent approval rating, 40 percent stated they disapproved.

The Monmouth University poll noted that Booker’s “ratings this year are more negative than they were prior to his national campaign. For example, in April 2018, he earned a 54% approve and 31% disapprove rating from New Jersey voters.”

Along party lines, 71 percent of Democrats approve of Booker, while only 11 percent disapprove. A mere 14 percent of Republicans approve of Booker’s performance, and 69 percent disapprove. Forty percent of independents approve of Booker, while 45 percent said they disapprove.

Regarding Newark’s drinking water crisis, 28 percent of respondents said they believe Booker had a “great deal” of responsibility in the matter. Another 23 percent said they believe he had “some” responsibility in the matter. Only one in five respondents stated they believe Booker had “little” or “no” responsibility in the water problem. The remainder said they have no opinion or are unaware of the matter.

“Running for president can stretch the patience of home state constituents, and we are seeing some signs of that with Cory Booker,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. “Still, he is managing to hold on to a net positive rating despite his national campaign as well as recent news that brought potentially negative attention to his time as mayor.”

The Monmouth University poll was conducted by telephone from September 12 to 16, 2019, with 713 New Jersey adults, which has a +/- 3.7 percentage point sampling margin of error. Some results in this release are based on 325 registered voters who identify as Democrats or lean toward the Democrat Party and have a margin of error of +/- 5.4 percentage points.  The poll was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey.