Gallup: Christie Has Cross-Party Appeal, High Name Recognition

Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has cross-party appeal as he heads into a re-election bid in November, a new Gallup poll shows. And a 72 percent name recognition bodes well for any presidential aspirations he may have.

More than half of all Americans had a favorable view of Christie. The same was true of Republicans, Democrats, and independents.

The poll was conducted June 1-4, mostly before Christie received negative reaction from fellow Republicans for announcing a special election to replace the recently deceased Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

GOP officials and pundits wanted Christie to appoint a Republican to fill Lautenberg's remaining term to give the party a boost in the Senate where they are in the minority. Some accused him of looking out for his own political needs rather than the needs of the party.

But the pollsters pointed out that Christie had also received negative reaction from speaking well of President Barack Obama after Hurricane Sandy just before the 2012 presidential election and again after he recently visited the Jersey Shore. Despite negative reaction from those visits, Christie still has high marks from Republicans.

According the poll, Christie has a 52 percent favorable rating among all Americans. His favorable rating among Republicans is 58 percent, compared to 52 percent among Democrats, and 50 percent with independents.

His unfavorable rating is 20 percent among all Americans, 23 percent with Republicans, 18 percent with Democrats, and 20 percent with independents.

Christie's 72 percent name recognition is up from 49 percent in March 2011. During that time, his favorable ratings have almost doubled, and his unfavorable numbers have dropped by two percentage points, Gallup said.