Poll finds NJ voters unhappy with Corzine, state budget

TRENTON, N.J. - A new poll finds voters unhappy with Gov. Jon S. Corzine and the way he's handled the state budget and pessimistic about the way things are going in the Garden State.

The Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found 52 percent of New Jersey voters disapprove of Corzine's performance as governor, with 38 percent approving. Fifty-seven percent disapprove of how he's handled the state budget, with 30 percent approving.

Corzine's $32.8 billion spending plan calls for $2.9 billion in cuts amid fiscal woes, including reductions in state funding for property tax rebates, hospitals, colleges, municipalities and nursing homes.

"The drop in Gov. Jon Corzine's approval rating isn't surprising given his fumbles with the state budget this year and the increasingly difficult economy," said Clay F. Richards, the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute's assistant director. "The governor is going to have to pull a rabbit out of a hat in the upcoming budget debate this month if he wants to get his numbers back on track and get in shape for next year's re-election bid."

Corzine, speaking Tuesday on WOR radio, said he realized the budget involved tough decisions.

"We don't like to do it," Corzine said. "It's heartbreaking, some of the things you have to reduce your expenditures on, but you can't spend more than you take in."

The state Constitution requires a budget be adopted by July 1.

Corzine, a Democrat, is expected to seek re-election in November 2009.

But the poll found Democrats approve of Corzine's performance by just 49 percent to 41 percent, with 68 percent of Republicans and 54 percent of independents disapproving.

The state Legislature does worse, with a 57 percent to 25 percent disapproval rating.

Corzine's approval rating is largely unchanged from February, but still ranks among his lowest grades ever. His lowest Quinnipiac rating was a 35 percent approval in April 2006. His highest was 51 percent in April 2007 after he was nearly killed in a car crash.

When asked whether Corzine should make public his e-mail exchanges with former girlfriend and state worker union leader Carla Katz during contract negotiations last year, men split 46 percent to 45 percent. But 58 percent of women supported keeping them private, with 33 percent of women saying he should make them public.

A judge recently ordered Corzine to release the e-mails, saying the relationship created a "clear potential for conflict" and deemed the e-mails communications the public had the right to see. Corzine has vowed to appeal the ruling that stems from a Republican lawsuit seeking to make the e-mails public.

The survey found 68 percent of New Jersey voters are "somewhat dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with the direction the state is headed.

Only 10 percent of New Jersey voters say things in the state are better since Corzine became governor in 2006, while 39 percent say things are worse and 50 percent say they're the same.

But 66 percent agree the state has "very serious" budget problems, with 29 percent saying "somewhat serious."

The telephone poll of 1,473 New Jersey voters was conducted from June 5-8 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.