September 23, 1999 - Florio, Keane Lead Pack Of No-Names In Senate Race, Quinnipiac College Poll Finds; New Jersey Voters Don't Want Whitman As V.P. Former New Jersey governors James Florio and Thomas Keane score the highest name recognition as voters survey the pack of potential candidates considering the U.S. Senate race in New Jersey, according to a Quinnipiac College Poll released today. By a 55 - 11 percent margin, voters have a favorable opinion of Keane, while 20 percent have a mixed opinion and 14 percent haven't heard enough to form an opinion. Florio gets a 33 - 36 percent favorability rating, with 22 percent mixed and 9 percent saying they haven't heard enough to form an opinion. Favorability ratings for other possible Senate candidates are: Favorable Unfavorable Mixed No Opinion Businessman Jon Corzine 6% 4% 5% 85% Former Democratic State Chair Tom Byrne 11 8 12 69 U.S. Rep. Bob Franks 16 6 14 63 U.S. Rep. Frank Lobiondo 12 4 10 74 Former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer 22 13 18 46 P.A. Chair Lewis Eisenberg 7 9 12 71 State Sen. William Gormley 11 4 10 76 Essex County Executive James Treffinger 8 4 6 81 Professor Murray Sabrin 7 5 9 79 Radio host Bob Grant 13 25 12 49 "James Florio had to be the happiest politician in New Jersey when Gov. Christine Todd Whitman said she wouldn't run for Senator. Now he doesn't face a re-run of their 1993 campaign," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac College Polling Institute. "So far, the only other potential candidates who even break 50 percent on the voter recognition scale are Thomas Keane and Dick Zimmer, both of whom have run for statewide office. As for the rest of the pack, voters are asking, `Who are those guys?' "Businessman Jon Corzine supposedly has buckets of money to spend in a Senate race and he better start spending soon because he has the lowest recognition factor on the list." New Jersey voters approve 58 - 35 percent of the job Gov. Whitman is doing, but by a 56 - 39 percent margin, they do not want her to run as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate. And 51 percent say Whitman's presence on the GOP ticket would not influence their presidential vote. "Gov. Whitman was the 800-pound gorilla in the Senate race. But this is the second time in four years that New Jersey voters told Quinnipiac College they did not want their Governor running on the Republican national ticket," Carroll said. Taxes should be Whitman's top priority during her last two years as Governor, 23 percent of voters say, while 22 percent list education/school funding as a top priority and 11 percent list auto insurance. Only 2 percent of voters say crime/violence/drugs/guns should be a top priority. From September 14 - 21, Quinnipiac College surveyed 783 New Jersey registered voters. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent. 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. 1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christine Whitman is handling her job as Governor of New Jersey? Jul 22 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom 1999 Approve 58% 75% 41% 57% 61% 56% 55% Disapprove 35 20 53 33 33 36 37 DK/NA 7 4 6 9 6 8 8 2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Frank Lautenberg is handling his job as United States Senator? Jul 22 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom 1999 Approve 55% 41% 75% 52% 52% 58% 55% Disapprove 25 41 10 27 30 21 25 DK/NA 20 18 16 21 18 21 20 3. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Robert Torricelli is handling his job as United States Senator? Jul 22 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom 1999 Approve 46% 33% 58% 48% 46% 45% 44% Disapprove 25 38 15 23 28 23 29 DK/NA 29 29 27 30 26 32 28 6. What issue do you think should be Governor Whitman's top priority during her final two years in office? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Crime/Violence 1% 1% 2% 1% 1% 1% Guns/Gun control 1 1 1 - - 1 Police-General 1 - 1 1 1 1 State Police/Racial Profiling 2 1 1 2 2 1 Criminal justice system - - - - 1 - Economy 1 1 - 1 1 1 Unemployment/Jobs 2 2 2 1 1 2 Taxes/General 6 8 5 6 7 5 State income tax 2 5 1 2 3 2 Sales tax 1 - - - 1 - Local property tax 14 19 16 9 14 14 Budget/Deficit 1 1 1 1 1 1 Government spending 1 - - 1 2 - Poverty/Homelessness 1 - 2 1 1 1 Welfare 1 - - - 1 1 Class inequality/ Income disparity 1 - 2 - 1 1 Budget cuts/Cuts in services 1 1 - - 1 - Children's issues 1 - 1 1 - 1 Healthcare/Costs/Ins./HMOs 4 4 3 6 5 4 Medicare 1 - - 1 - 1 Abortion 1 1 1 1 1 1 Elderly 2 - 2 2 - 3 Education 19 17 19 21 15 23 Funding public schools 3 2 3 3 3 3 Environment/Pollution 3 3 4 3 4 3 Auto insurance 11 13 8 12 13 9 Highways/Tolls 2 3 2 2 3 2 Politicians/Government 1 - 1 - 1 - Other 6 3 9 6 7 5 DK/NA 9 7 6 11 8 9 8. Is your opinion of former New Jersey Governor James Florio favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Jul 22 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom 1999 Favorable 33% 16% 48% 35% 30% 35% 21% Unfavorable 36 60 17 33 45 29 38 Mixed 22 17 24 24 18 25 23 Haven't heard enough 9 7 10 8 7 11 17 REFUSED - - - - - - 1 9. Is your opinion of businessman Jon Corzine favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Jul 22 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom 1999 Favorable 6% 6% 6% 6% 7% 4% 3% Unfavorable 4 4 4 3 6 2 3 Mixed 5 7 4 4 7 3 3 Haven't heard enough 85 83 86 86 80 90 90 REFUSED - - - - 1 - 1 10. Is your opinion of former Democratic State Chairman Tom Byrne favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Jun 9 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom 1999 Favorable 11% 8% 15% 10% 10% 13% 10% Unfavorable 8 13 5 6 13 3 6 Mixed 12 9 13 13 10 13 11 Haven't heard enough 69 69 67 71 67 71 73 REFUSED 1 1 - 1 1 - 1 11. Is your opinion of former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Feb 12 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom 1999 Favorable 55% 65% 45% 55% 58% 52% 39% Unfavorable 11 9 18 9 13 10 13 Mixed 20 15 22 22 19 20 22 Haven't heard enough 14 10 15 14 10 17 25 REFUSED 1 1 - - 1 1 1 12. 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% 23% 12% 14% 17% 15% Unfavorable 6 8 6 5 11 3 Mixed 14 13 15 15 14 14 Haven't heard enough 63 55 66 65 59 68 REFUSED - - - - 1 - 13. Is your opinion of New Jersey Congressman Frank Lobiondo favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 12% 15% 11% 10% 13% 11% Unfavorable 4 3 4 4 4 3 Mixed 10 9 10 11 10 9 Haven't heard enough 74 73 76 75 72 77 REFUSED 1 - - - 1 - 14. Is your opinion of former New Jersey Congressman Dick Zimmer favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 22% 29% 19% 20% 25% 19% Unfavorable 13 12 17 11 15 11 Mixed 18 16 19 20 18 17 Haven't heard enough 46 42 44 48 40 51 REFUSED 1 1 - 1 1 1 15. Is your opinion of Port Authority Chairman Lewis Eisenberg favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 7% 10% 6% 7% 8% 6% Unfavorable 9 10 6 9 13 5 Mixed 12 12 13 13 13 12 Haven't heard enough 71 67 74 71 66 76 REFUSED 1 - 1 - 1 - 16. 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 11% 15% 11% 8% 12% 10% Unfavorable 4 3 6 3 6 2 Mixed 10 11 7 10 11 9 Haven't heard enough 76 71 76 79 72 79 REFUSED - - - - - - 17. 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% 9% 9% 7% 9% 7% Unfavorable 4 3 5 5 5 3 Mixed 6 7 9 4 6 6 Haven't heard enough 81 80 77 83 78 83 REFUSED 1 1 - 1 1 1 18. Is your opinion of college professor Murray Sabrin favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Oct 23 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom 1997 Favorable 7% 10% 5% 6% 9% 6% 6% Unfavorable 5 6 6 3 8 3 4 Mixed 9 6 10 11 9 8 4 Haven't heard enough 79 76 79 80 74 83 85 REFUSED 1 2 - - 1 - - 19. Is your opinion of broadcast personality Bob Grant favorable unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Jul 22 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom 1999 Favorable 13% 22% 7% 10% 17% 9% 11% Unfavorable 25 19 34 27 29 22 23 Mixed 12 18 10 11 12 12 10 Haven't heard enough 49 41 49 51 40 57 56 REFUSED 1 - 1 1 1 - 1 20. Thinking about the Presidential election in the year 2000, would you like to see Christine Whitman run as the Republican candidate for Vice-President or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes 39% 54% 27% 37% 39% 40% No 56 41 69 60 56 56 DK/NA 4 5 5 4 5 4 21. If Christine Whitman were the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate in the year 2000, would that make you more likely to vote for the Republican ticket, less likely, or wouldn't it make a difference? Aug 10 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom 1998 More likely 19% 30% 12% 17% 20% 19% 20% Less likely 25 13 41 25 22 28 29 Wouldn't make a diff. 51 56 42 53 53 50 46 DK/NA 4 1 4 5 5 4 5
