Trump and MAGA targeting NJ. Can GOP win gov’s race? New poll is revealing
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Philadelphia International Airport, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia. (Chris Szagola | AP Photo)Chris Szagola | AP Photo
New Jersey is one of only two states to have a statewide election since President Donald Trump won re-election last November.
And the polling numbers aren’t in his favor.
According to a new Stockton University Poll, a majority of New Jerseyans — 54% — give Trump a “poor” job performance compared to 37% who rated him either “good” (11%) or “excellent” (26%).
Fifty-four percent think the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 37% who said it’s on the right track, per the poll. And a majority — 60% — said the economy is getting worse, while only 30% think it’s getting better.
Watch more Video ;
New Jersey is a blue state. But it has a history of flipping back and forth between Democratic and Republican governors.
The state hasn’t elected one party to the governor’s office for three straight terms since 1961.
Incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is term-limited this year. Voters go to the polls in June to choose their party’s nominee.
Trump, meanwhile, lost the state in 2024 by only 6 percentage points to Kamala Harris, compared to his 16-point loss to Joe Biden in 2020.
Despite Trump’s approval being underwater in New Jersey and among several national polls, CNN’s Harry Enten recently broke down data that showed some silver linings for the president.
Nearly half of the country currently thinks it is headed in the right direction.
More from Enten on Tuesday:
The polls have historically underestimated Donald Trump. What is a metric that might get at understanding at how popular he may actually be, so let’s take a look at the percentage of the country who say that we’re on the right track. It’s actually a very high percentage when you compare it to some historical numbers, what are we talking about? According to Marist, 45% say that we’re on the right track. That’s the second highest that Marist has measured since 2009. How about NBC News? Forty-four percent. That’s the highest since 2004. The bottom line is that the percentage of Americans who say we’re on the right track is through the roof. And if you were to compare it to when presidents have historically been reelected, of course, Trump is not constitutionally eligible to run for election, but I think it sort of puts into perspective, 42% of the country says the country is on the right track when the incumbent party is reelected. And also, keep in mind back when Kamala Harris lost and Democrats were turned out of power, only about 27% to 28% of the country, said the country is on the right track. The bottom line is, right now, a much higher percentage of the country says we’re on the right track.
MORE: Trump’s secret weapon that keeps Democrats up at night
Trump’s support among independents has taken a nosedive. And nearly half of likely voters — 49% — currently disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy.
According to the latest Echelon Insights poll done for Puck News, 49% of likely voters currently disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy. It shows a 9-percentage-point spike in who soured on him compared to a similar survey taken after his inauguration, when 40% disapproved of his job on the issue.
Similarly, 49% of likely voters currently say the country’s economic conditions are deteriorating, compared to 39% who said the same eight weeks ago, per the poll. Only 32% of likely voters said the country’s economy is improving at the moment.
In a recent Fox News poll, meanwhile, nearly half of independents — 48% — strongly disapprove of the job Trump is doing, while only 13% of the group strongly approve.
Overall, 61% disapprove and 38% approve when “strongly” and “somewhat” numbers are combined.
Among Republicans, 65% strongly approve of the job he’s doing and 27% somewhat approve (92%), per the poll. As for Democrats, 85% strongly disapprove and 6% somewhat disapprove (91%).
It mirrors other polling, according to nine polls from late February to early March, Trump’s average approval among independents is 37% compared to 59% who disapprove.
That’s a 22-percentage-point gap.
The polls are YouGov (The Economist), right-leaning Quintus Insights (Trending Politics), TIPP Insights, left-leaning Civiqs (Daily Kos Elections), YouGov (Hoover Institution), right-leaning TIPP (League of American Workers), right-leaning McLaughlin (America’s New Majority Project), right-leaning Cygnal, Quinnipiac University, Ipsos (Reuters), and right-leaning Echelon Insights.
Trump is underwater with independents as much as 37 points in a recent NBC News poll and six points in CBS/YouGov survey.
