Quinnipiac University

Governor Jon Corzine has a 49%-32% approval rating -- his highest since taking office almost one year ago -- according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released today. That's considerably better than James E. McGreevey's upside-down 37%-42% in December 2002, but not even close to Richard Codey's 68%-16% numbers after his first year as Governor.

While Corzine appears to be well liked by New Jerseyans (including 28% of Republicans), his base vote does not seem to want him to run for President -- at least not in 2008. Nearly three out of every four voters (74%) say Corzine should not run, while just 12% believe he should. More than half (53%) of the New Jersey voters polled say the former Goldman Sachs Chairman and U.S. Senator is not qualified to be President, and only 26% say they would vote for him if he ran; 61% say they would not.

QUINNIPIAC POLL UNDERSCORES THE DIFFICULTY
OF ACHIEVING PROPERTY TAX REFORM

(TRENTON) - The Quinnipiac University poll on property taxes underscores the dilemma confronting New Jersey lawmakers in their attempt to address the number one issue in the state, officials from the Hall Institute of Public Policy said today.

ROBERTS: POLL SHOWS SPECIAL SESSION ON RIGHT TRACK
WITH 20 PERCENT TAX CUT TARGET

(TRENTON) – Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. welcomed the results of a newly released poll that registered significant support among New Jersey residents for the Legislature's proposed 20 percent property tax credit for the majority of households and other property tax-reform measures.

Robert Taft has an incredible 80% disapproval rating, with just 11% approving of the job he is doing as Governor of Ohio, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released today. Taft's numbers are partly to blame for GOP woes in his state: his party's candidate for Governor trails by a near 2-1 magin, the incumbent Republican U.S. Senator is behind, and the GOP is fighting to defend at least four House seats.

Last year, Taft was found guilty of failing to report 47 golf outings on his personal financial disclosure statement -- valued at about $5,800. In Ohio, an ethics violation like that is considered a criminal offense and the Govenror paid a $4,000 fine on four misdemeanor counts; he could have faced up to two years in prison. State law does not require public officials convicted of misdemeanors to resign and Taft refused to leave office.

Had Taft been the Governor of New Jersey, you have to wonder whether an infraction like not reporting a few dozen golf outings would have even made the front page of the Star-Ledger's New Jersey section.

New Jersey's most popular politician is still the venerable Frank Lautenberg, who has a 43%-32% approval rating in a new Quinnipiac University poll -- better than Governor Jon Corzine and Senator Robert Menendez, although still lower than most other United States Senators from around the nation. That means New Jerseyans like the 81-year-old Lautenberg, who says he will seek re-election to a fifth term in the U.S. Senate in 2008, but not enough to give him a safe seat.

About one out of every four New Jerseyans who say they will vote for Tom Kean for United States Senator said they like him because they liked his father, former Governor Thomas Kean, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. Kean, a State Senator from Union County, has a favorability rating of 18%-6%. The incumbent, Robert Menendez, has a 21%-10% favorability rating.

Jon Corzine 52%
Doug Forrester 45%

Publicly, Democrats are touting a poll conducted by Bill Clinton's polling firm, Penn, Schoen and Berland, that has Jon Corzine leading Doug Forrester by thirteen points, 46%-33%. Privately, Republicans say the Forrester campaign has an internal tracking poll that mirrors last week's Quinnipiac University survey: Corzine ahead by just four points.