February 23, 2000 - Florio Tops Corzine More Than 2 - 1 With Jersey Dems, Quinnipiac College Poll Finds; New Jersey Voters Want Emissions Tests, But Fix System Former New Jersey Gov. James Florio tops the virtually unknown businessman Jon Corzine, 57 - 22 percent among New Jersey Democratic voters, according to a Quinnipiac College Poll released today. If ex-presidential candidate Steve Forbes threw his hat into the Senate race, he would dominate the field of unknown GOP contenders, the independent Quinnipiac College poll finds. Forbes would get 33 percent of Republican voters. No other candidate tops 10 percent. Undecided gets 33 percent. From February 16 - 21, Quinnipiac College surveyed 1,109 New Jersey registered voters, with a margin of error of 2.9 percent. The survey includes 307 registered Republican voters, with a margin of error of 5.6 percent and 374 registered Democrats with a margin of error of 5.1 percent. "All that money. All that work. And it's still `Jon who?' New Jersey Democrats don't have much of an impression of Jon Corzine," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac College Polling Institute. "Even though Gov. Florio still gives New Jersey voters negative vibes, they at least know who he is and Democrats say they'd nominate him over Corzine. But don't underestimate the value of party endorsements in helping voters decide." A total of 55 percent of Democratic voters say the party organization's support for a candidate in a Senate primary is "very important" or "somewhat important" in their selection. By a 27 - 35 percent margin, New Jersey voters have a favorable opinion of Florio, with 23 percent mixed and 15 percent saying they haven't heard enough to form an opinion. Favorability ratings among other possible Senate contenders are: Favorable Unfavorable Mixed No Opinion Jon Corzine 7% 4% 7% 81% Steve Forbes 29 26 24 20 U.S. Rep. Bob Franks 16 6 14 63 State Sen. William Gormley 13 5 10 72 Essex County Executive James Treffinger 8 4 5 82 Professor Murray Sabrin 7 6 5 82 Auto Emissions Testing Asked how important it is that emissions from their car are as clean as possible, 62 percent of New Jersey voters say "very important," while 30 percent say "somewhat important." A total of 29 percent of voters are "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with the present system of emissions testing, while 62 percent are "somewhat dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied." A total of 76 percent are "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" with the amount of time it takes to have their car tested, while a total of 79 percent are "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" with the cost of having their car tested. Asked to choose between cost or convenience, 45 percent of New Jersey voters prefer a higher cost with faster service for auto emissions testing, while 39 percent prefer a lower cost with slower service. "New Jersey voters want to keep their air clean, but they don't think much of the bobbles in the new system to measure auto pollution," Carroll said. "It's thumbs down on the cost of auto emission inspections and on the time they take." The Quinnipiac College Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as a public service and for research. For additional data: www.quinnipiac.edu 1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christine Whitman is handling her job as Governor of New Jersey? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 54% 72% 45% 53% 57% 52% Disapprove 37 25 45 38 37 37 DK/NA 9 3 10 10 6 11 3. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Frank Lautenberg is handling his job as United States Senator? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 52% 41% 61% 53% 51% 53% Disapprove 23 37 14 23 29 18 DK/NA 25 22 25 24 20 29 4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Robert Torricelli is handling his job as United States Senator? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 41% 34% 49% 39% 40% 42% Disapprove 26 38 17 28 34 20 DK/NA 33 28 34 33 26 38 6. How much attention have you been paying to the election campaign for United States Senator -- a lot, some, only a little, or none at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom A lot 15% 22% 15% 12% 19% 12% Some 34 36 33 34 33 34 Only a little 33 29 32 37 32 34 None at all 17 12 19 17 15 19 DK/NA 1 1 1 - 1 0 7. Is your opinion of former New Jersey Governor James Florio favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 27% 13% 39% 27% 25% 29% Unfavorable 35 59 17 35 42 28 Mixed 23 16 26 25 20 25 Haven't heard enough 15 12 18 13 13 17 REFUSED - - - - - 1 8. Is your opinion of businessman Jon Corzine favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 7% 4% 9% 8% 9% 5% Unfavorable 4 5 6 3 7 2 Mixed 7 11 6 6 8 7 Haven't heard enough 81 78 78 83 76 85 REFUSED 1 1 - 1 1 1 9. Is your opinion of businessman Steve Forbes favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 29% 39% 19% 31% 32% 26% Unfavorable 26 19 33 27 28 24 Mixed 24 26 23 23 24 24 Haven't heard enough 20 15 25 17 15 25 REFUSED 1 1 - 1 1 1 10. Is your opinion of New Jersey Congressman Bob Franks favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 16% 20% 15% 16% 17% 15% Unfavorable 6 6 5 6 8 3 Mixed 14 13 14 15 14 15 Haven't heard enough 63 61 65 61 60 66 REFUSED 1 - 1 1 1 1 11. Is your opinion of State Senator William Gormley favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 13% 17% 10% 14% 14% 12% Unfavorable 5 4 5 5 7 3 Mixed 10 12 8 11 11 9 Haven't heard enough 72 68 76 70 68 75 REFUSED 1 - 1 - 1 1 12. Is your opinion of Essex county executive James Treffinger favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 8% 11% 7% 8% 10% 6% Unfavorable 4 4 7 2 6 3 Mixed 5 5 6 4 5 5 Haven't heard enough 82 79 79 86 78 85 REFUSED 1 1 1 - 1 0 13. Is your opinion of college professor Murray Sabrin favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 7% 8% 5% 7% 8% 5% Unfavorable 6 4 6 6 7 4 Mixed 5 6 5 4 5 5 Haven't heard enough 82 81 83 83 79 85 REFUSED 1 1 - - 1 0 26. If the Democratic Primary for United States Senator were being held today and the candidates were James Florio and Jon Corzine, for whom would you vote? Registered Democrats Tot Men Wom James Florio 57% 58% 57% Jon Corzine 22 28 18 WLDN'T VOTE (VOL) 2 2 2 DK/NA 19 13 23 27. When deciding how to vote in the Democratic primary for United States Senator, how important is it to you which candidate is endorsed by the Democratic party? Is it very important, somewhat important, not very important, or not important at all? Registered Democrats Tot Men Wom Very important 21% 15% 25% Smwht important 34 28 37 Not very important 21 22 20 Not important at all 24 35 17 DK/NA - - 0 29. If the Republican Primary for United States Senator were being held today and the candidates were Steve Forbes, Murray Sabrin, Bob Franks, James Treffinger and William Gormley, for whom would you vote? Registered Republicans Tot Men Wom Steve Forbes 33% 33% 33% Murray Sabrin 4 6 2 Bob Franks 8 10 6 James Treffinger 5 6 4 William Gormley 10 10 9 WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 7 6 7 DK/NA 33 28 38 30. When deciding how to vote in the Republican primary for United States Senator,how important is it to you which candidate is endorsed by the Republican party? Is it very important, somewhat important,not very important, or not important at all? Registered Republicans Tot Men Wom Very important 18% 14% 21% Smwht important 38 40 37 Not very important 22 23 21 Not important at all 22 23 20 DK/NA - 1 - 31. How satisfied are you with the present system of auto pollution testing in New Jersey? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Very satisfied 5% 4% 5% 5% 4% 5% Smwht satisfied 24 21 26 26 21 27 Smwht dissatisfied 23 25 23 22 22 24 Very dissatisfied 39 38 39 38 46 33 DK/NA 9 12 7 9 8 11 32. How important is it to you that the emissions from your car are as clean possible? Very important, somewhat important, not very important, or not important at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Very important 62% 53% 70% 63% 55% 69% Smwht important 30 36 23 31 34 26 Not very important 4 5 4 3 5 3 Not important at all 3 4 2 2 4 1 DK/NA 1 2 1 1 2 1 33a. How concerned are you about the amount of time it takes having your car tested for pollution? Are you very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned, or not concerned at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Very concerned 51% 50% 52% 51% 52% 50% Smwht concerned 25 27 25 25 26 25 Not too concerned 13 11 12 16 14 13 Not concerned at all 9 10 9 8 8 10 DK/NA 2 2 2 1 1 2 33b. How concerned are you about the cost of testing your car for pollution? Are you very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned, or not concerned at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Very concerned 48% 51% 48% 44% 46% 49% Smwht concerned 31 27 30 34 31 31 Not too concerned 11 13 12 12 14 10 Not concerned at all 7 7 7 7 8 6 DK/NA 3 3 3 3 1 4 34. Which would you prefer regarding the cost and time involved in testing your car for pollution? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom (A) A lower cost, with slower service. 39% 40% 44% 34% 34% 43% (B) A higher cost, with faster service. 45 41 46 50 50 41 DK/NA 16 19 10 16 15 16
