Rutgers-Eagleton Poll: Gov. Sherrill approval at 44%, most approve of handling of Caldwell investigation
NEW JERSEY — Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s job approval rating stands at 44% among New Jersey adults, while about two-thirds say she has handled the ethics investigation involving former Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell well, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Thursday.
The poll found 44% approve of Sherrill’s job performance, virtually unchanged from March, while 34% disapprove, up 5 percentage points, and 22% are unsure. Among respondents who expressed an opinion, 56% approve.
Thirty-nine percent of those surveyed have a favorable impression of Sherrill, compared with 31% who view her unfavorably. Twenty-seven percent have no opinion, while 3% said they do not know who she is.
In March, 44% had a favorable impression of Sherrill and 29% had an unfavorable impression. Rutgers-Eagleton said the changes are within the poll’s margin of error.
“Nine months into her term, Gov. Sherrill’s approval numbers look much like they did at 100 days, which in this political climate – and after a challenging summer – is itself an accomplishment,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “She continues to draw more positive reactions than negative ones, and more New Jerseyans have formed an impression of her than had of Phil Murphy at this same point in his first term. But a quarter of residents still have no opinion of her almost a year in, and how those New Jerseyans eventually break will decide whether her net positive ratings hold.”
The poll also asked respondents about Sherrill’s handling of the situation involving Caldwell. According to Rutgers-Eagleton, an independent review found Caldwell violated state ethics policies, and he resigned at Sherrill’s request Friday.
Because the investigation concluded and Caldwell resigned while the poll was being conducted, Rutgers-Eagleton updated the wording of the question during the survey. The poll found no statistically significant difference between responses collected before and after his resignation.
Among 976 residents who answered either version of the question, 36% said Sherrill was handling the situation very well and 32% said somewhat well. Nine percent said she was not handling it very well, 5% said not well at all and 19% were unsure.
Among respondents who expressed an opinion, 83% viewed Sherrill’s handling of the matter positively.
“New Jerseyans are largely giving Sherrill credit for how she has responded to a problem inside her own administration,” Koning said. “She brought in an outside investigator and then called publicly for her own lieutenant governor to resign, and most residents read that as accountability rather than protecting her own or politics as usual. It’s a continuation of Sherrill’s themes of transparency and responsibility that began on the campaign trail and have been emphasized throughout her first year.”
The poll also found more New Jerseyans believe the state is headed in the wrong direction than the right direction. Forty-three percent said New Jersey has gone off on the wrong track, compared with 37% who said the state is going in the right direction. Twenty percent were unsure.
Respondents were also asked about President Donald Trump. Twenty-four percent reported a favorable impression of Trump, while 66% had an unfavorable impression and 10% had no opinion.
The statewide poll surveyed 1,004 New Jersey adults through the probability-based Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel from Sept. 24 through Sept. 27. The full sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
