September 22, 2004 - McGreevey Should Say Goodbye To Politics, New Jersey Voters Tell Quinnipiac University Poll; Most Don't Think They'll Ever Vote For Him Agian Only 35 percent of New Jersey voters say it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that they would ever vote for Gov. James McGreevey if he runs for office in the future, while 13 percent say it is "not too likely" and 49 percent say it's "not likely at all," according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters say 56 - 41 percent that McGreevey should resign November 15, rather than step down immediately. But voters say 61 - 30 percent that it would be "a bad thing," if he changes his mind and doesn't resign, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. "New Jersey voters tell Gov. McGreevey it's OK to wait until November 15 to resign, but please close the door firmly behind you," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Voters are split on whether McGreevey should have resigned in the first place, but they say 2 -1 that he'd better stick with the plan and leave November 15. And they are not very likely, at least not now, of ever voting for him again." Voters give McGreevey a 51 - 40 percent disapproval rating, little changed from his approval ratings in Quinnipiac University polls conducted just before and just after he announced his resignation. McGreevey will be able to lead the state effectively until November 15, voters say 57 - 40 percent. By a 70 - 20 percent margin, New Jersey voters say the State Constitution should be amended so that the successor to the governor is not also serving as the State Senate President. From September 16 - 19, Quinnipiac University surveyed 943 New Jersey registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida and nationally as a public service and for research. For additional data -- www.quinnipiac.edu and quicklinks or call (203) 582-5201. TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way James McGreevey is handling his job as Governor? App Dis DK/NA Sep 22, 2004 40 51 9 Aug 25, 2004 39 51 9 Aug 4, 2004 38 47 14 Jun 22, 2004 45 39 16 May 19, 2004 41 43 16 Mar 9, 2004 38 47 15 Nov 12, 2003 34 52 14 Sep 24, 2003 35 52 14 Jul 17, 2003 35 49 16 Jun 18, 2003 35 47 18 Apr 2, 2003 38 44 18 Jan 29, 2003 40 41 18 Dec 11, 2002 37 42 21 Oct 7, 2002 44 43 13 Sep 12, 2002 41 36 23 Aug 8, 2002 42 34 25 Jun 20, 2002 43 30 27 Apr 24, 2002 40 32 28 Mar 7, 2002 46 22 32 Jan 31, 2002 42 19 39 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? App Dis DK/NA Sep 22, 2004 37 47 17 Aug 25, 2004 38 44 19 Aug 4, 2004 32 45 23 Jun 22, 2004 36 44 20 May 19, 2004 38 39 23 Mar 9, 2004 34 47 19 Nov 12, 2003 30 51 19 Sep 24, 2003 33 49 18 Jul 17, 2003 32 48 20 Jun 18, 2003 30 46 24 Apr 2, 2003 38 39 24 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Jon Corzine is handling his job as United States Senator? App Dis DK/NA Sep 22, 2004 54 25 21 Aug 25, 2004 54 24 21 Aug 4, 2004 46 28 26 Jun 22, 2004 46 29 25 May 19, 2004 49 27 23 Mar 9, 2004 47 28 25 Nov 12, 2003 44 30 26 Sep 24, 2003 48 30 22 Jul 17, 2003 48 27 26 Jun 18, 2003 44 30 26 Apr 2, 2003 46 29 25 Jan 29, 2003 47 23 30 Dec 11, 2002 47 22 30 Oct 7, 2002 52 26 22 Sep 12, 2002 47 19 33 Aug 8, 2002 49 19 31 Jun 19, 2002 46 18 36 Apr 24, 2002 48 20 32 Mar 6, 2002 51 20 29 Jan 30, 2002 51 15 33 Oct 18, 2001 51 19 29 Aug 7, 2001 50 21 29 Jul 5, 2001 48 22 30 May 14, 2001 49 20 31 Apr 11, 2001 46 21 33 Mar 8, 2001 43 21 36 Feb 8, 2001 35 18 47 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Frank Lautenberg is handling his job as United States Senator? App Dis DK/NA Sep 22, 2004 49 32 19 Aug 25, 2004 50 28 22 Aug 4, 2004 48 31 22 Jun 22, 2004 47 31 22 May 19, 2004 48 33 19 Mar 9, 2004 44 33 23 Nov 12, 2003 45 33 23 Sep 24, 2003 48 34 18 Jul 17, 2003 43 33 24 Jun 18, 2003 41 34 25 Apr 2, 2003 44 32 24 Jan 29, 2003 42 27 32 Dec 6, 2000 52 20 27 Aug 24, 2000 51 21 28 Jul 27, 2000 55 22 23 Mar 29, 2000 53 22 25 Feb 23, 2000 52 23 25 Sep 23, 1999 55 25 20 Jul 22, 1999 55 25 20 Mar 31, 1999 54 25 21 Feb 12, 1999 52 29 19 Nov 12, 1998 52 26 22 Aug 10, 1998 50 24 26 Apr 23, 1998 51 25 23 Mar 4, 1998 52 23 25 Oct 22, 1997 51 26 23 Sep 16, 1997 53 26 22 Jul 29, 1997 50 25 26 Apr 10, 1997 52 25 23 Feb 8, 1996 43 32 26 TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New Jersey today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Very Smwht Smwht Very sat sat dis dis DK/NA Sep 22, 2004 6 41 32 21 - Aug 25, 2004 7 39 27 25 1 Aug 4, 2004 4 44 32 19 1 Jun 22, 2004 6 48 31 15 1 May 19, 2004 5 45 29 20 - Mar 9, 2004 4 40 36 19 1 Nov 12, 2003 3 37 35 23 1 Sep 24, 2003 4 41 33 22 1 Jul 17, 2003 4 42 35 18 1 Jun 18, 2003 5 39 34 21 2 Apr 2, 2003 4 42 37 16 2 Jan 29, 2003 3 42 33 20 1 Dec 11, 2002 4 47 31 17 1 Jun 20, 2002 5 48 31 15 1 Mar 7, 2002 4 50 30 14 2 Dec 26, 2000 10 61 21 7 1 Feb 12, 1999 11 60 21 7 - Oct 22, 1997 8 53 26 12 1 Sep 16, 1997 9 48 27 15 - Jun 25, 1997 9 50 28 13 1 Apr 10, 1997 7 52 29 11 1 Feb 20, 1997 11 56 23 10 1 Dec 11, 1996 8 49 31 12 1 1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way James McGreevey is handling his job as Governor? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Approve 40% 14% 60% 44% 35% 45% 29% Disapprove 51 80 32 44 57 46 63 DK/NA 9 6 8 12 8 9 7 Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Approve 49% 44% 38% 36% 31% Disapprove 49 47 57 51 56 DK/NA 2 9 5 14 13 2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Approve 37% 26% 48% 34% 34% 39% 28% Disapprove 47 62 37 44 51 42 53 DK/NA 17 11 14 22 15 19 20 Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Approve 40% 41% 26% 33% 37% Disapprove 46 41 56 49 48 DK/NA 14 18 18 18 16 3. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Jon Corzine is handling his job as United States Senator? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Approve 54% 34% 70% 53% 52% 55% 44% Disapprove 25 43 10 25 31 20 42 DK/NA 21 23 20 21 17 25 14 Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Approve 56% 60% 52% 42% 52% Disapprove 21 24 30 27 25 DK/NA 23 15 18 31 22 4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Frank Lautenberg is handling his job as United States Senator? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Approve 49% 34% 66% 46% 44% 53% 41% Disapprove 32 53 15 30 41 23 44 DK/NA 19 13 19 24 14 24 15 Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Approve 51% 52% 40% 46% 52% Disapprove 26 31 43 25 34 DK/NA 23 17 17 29 14 21. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New Jersey today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Very satisfied 6% 5% 7% 6% 6% 6% 8% Smwht satisfied 41 32 45 46 38 43 32 Smwht dissatisfied 32 36 32 28 29 34 33 Very dissatisfied 21 28 15 19 25 17 27 DK/NA - - 1 - - - - Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Very satisfied 10% 7% 5% 6% 2% Smwht satisfied 40 44 41 40 39 Smwht dissatisfied 30 29 37 33 33 Very dissatisfied 20 20 17 20 26 DK/NA - 1 - 1 - 22. Governor McGreevey recently announced that he is gay and that he had an extramarital affair with a man and that he will resign from office. How much have you heard or read about this - a lot, some, only a little, or nothing at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran A lot 74% 73% 77% 71% 73% 75% 73% Some 21 23 19 23 21 22 22 Only a little 4 3 3 5 5 3 4 None at all 1 - 1 1 1 1 1 DK/NA - - - 1 - - - Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore A lot 72% 71% 73% 78% 78% Some 22 23 24 19 17 Only a little 4 4 3 3 4 None at all 2 1 - - 1 DK/NA - - - 1 - 23. Do you think Governor McGreevey should have resigned or do you think he should have served out his term in office? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Yes/Resigned 48% 68% 31% 47% 55% 41% 61% No/Served out term 48 29 65 48 41 54 35 DK/NA 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Yes/Resigned 38% 46% 50% 45% 59% No/Served out term 58 47 47 54 39 DK/NA 3 7 3 2 3 24. Governor McGreevey has said that he will resign on November 15th. Do you think Governor McGreeey should resign immediately or wait until November 15th? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Resign immediately 41% 70% 19% 37% 49% 34% 52% Wait until Nov 15th 56 27 80 60 48 64 45 DK/NA 2 3 1 3 2 2 3 Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Resign immediately 30% 36% 48% 45% 51% Wait until Nov 15th 69 62 50 53 45 DK/NA 1 3 2 2 4 25. Under the circumstances, do you think Governor McGreevey will be able to lead the state effectively for the next two months or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Yes 57% 32% 75% 60% 53% 60% 52% No 40 67 22 36 46 36 45 DK/NA 3 2 2 4 1 4 3 Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Yes 66% 58% 52% 59% 50% No 32 39 46 39 47 DK/NA 2 3 2 2 3 26. If James McGreevey runs for public office again, how likely would you be to vote for him? Very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not likely at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Very likely 13% 2% 23% 12% 12% 14% 11% Smwht likely 22 10 33 22 17 26 14 Not too likely 13 8 15 16 10 15 7 Not likely at all 49 78 27 46 59 41 67 DK/NA 3 2 2 3 1 4 1 Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Very likely 23% 12% 12% 12% 8% Smwht likely 26 20 18 28 21 Not too likely 10 14 12 13 12 Not likely at all 40 49 56 45 56 DK/NA 2 4 1 2 3 27. Suppose Governor McGreevey changes his mind and decides not to resign. Do you think that would be a good thing or a bad thing for New Jersey? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Good thing 30% 15% 42% 31% 25% 34% 23% Bad thing 61 81 44 59 66 56 71 DK/NA 9 4 14 9 9 9 6 Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Good thing 41% 31% 23% 33% 23% Bad thing 52 59 68 60 66 DK/NA 8 9 9 7 12 28. If Governor McGreevey resigns, the State Senate president will become Governor. Do you think the state constitution should be amended so that one person cannot be both governor and senate president at the same time? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Veteran Yes/Amend const 70% 78% 67% 69% 75% 66% 76% No/Do not amend 20 16 23 22 21 20 17 DK/NA 9 6 10 9 5 13 7 Philly Urban SubUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Yes/Amend const 70% 69% 71% 71% 73% No/Do not amend 19 20 21 23 19 DK/NA 11 11 8 7 8
