New Rutgers poll: NJ Senate, governor candidates have uphill climbs on recognition

With less than six months to go until the 2024 New Jersey primary, a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll found that large majorities of Garden State voters don’t know or have an opinion on the Democrats vying for the U.S. seat currently held by the indicted Sen. Bob Menendez.

Those challengers, Rep. Andy Kim and the state’s first lady, Tammy Murphy, will face off in a Feb. 18 debate sponsored by the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey and the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

What did the poll find about NJ Senate candidates?

The poll found that 45% of those asked were unaware of Kim and 23% were unsure of him. His favorability is at 23%. Meanwhile, for Murphy, of those polled, 38% said they were unaware and 24% unsure. Her favorability is at 18%, and 20% view her unfavorably.

And though for the primary only Democrats can choose between the two, Kim has an edge with independents, 23% to Murphy’s 12%.

“Both Andy Kim and Tammy Murphy still have a long way to go in terms of name recognition,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, or ECPIP, at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “If there is any real difference in public opinion on these two candidates right now, Kim has had slightly more positive movement in his numbers compared to Murphy among the small number of those who provided an opinion, but the verdict is still out on each of them for the vast majority of New Jerseyans.”

As for the sitting senator, Menendez’s ratings continue to suffer in the wake of multiple federal indictments. Just 9% of New Jerseyans have a favorable impression of him, and 60% have an unfavorable one. These opinions span all demographics, including all partisans, and were given before the most recent superseding indictment in his case.

Koning noted that his “favorability continues to trail both Andy Kim’s and Tammy Murphy’s, and while his challengers need to gain ground in terms of name recognition, Menendez has the much harder task of reversing the negativity surrounding him if he decides to stay in the race.”

Menendez has not yet announced whether he will seek reelection.

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What about 2025 NJ gubernatorial candidates?

As for the other Murphy in politics, the poll found that Gov. Phil Murphy has a favorability rating of 46%, and 34% have an unfavorable impression of him.

But the governor’s time in office is limited, and the poll found that those looking to take his place are relatively unknown as well. Respondents either don’t know — 39% — or have no opinion — 27% — of former state Senate President Steve Sweeney, and even fewer are aware of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, with 57% saying they don’t know him and 25% saying they have no opinion.

Republican hopefuls are in much the same spot. The presumptive candidates — repeat candidate Jack Ciattarelli and state Sen. Jon Bramnick — respectively had 39% and 66% of respondents who didn’t know who they are.

“Despite their prominent roles in New Jersey politics, Bramnick, Ciattarelli, Fulop and Sweeney are mostly unknown to New Jerseyans,” said Jessica Roman, a research associate at ECPIP. “And we still have to go through multiple other elections until the 2025 gubernatorial begins to heat up and voters start paying attention.”

The poll didn’t just dig into politics. Residents’ outlook on the state overall trended more on the negative side, with 47% saying the state is on the wrong track while 43% said it’s on the right one.

The poll was run from Dec. 13 to 23, 2023, and included 1,657 adults contacted through multiple modes.

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers poll finds poor name recognition for NJ candidates