Roughly three quarters of Republicans have already made up their minds about Jeb Bush and Chris Christie — and a striking share, 16 percent, say they would not vote for either one.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows Christie, the governor of New Jersey, and Bush, a former Florida governor, both facing likability problems among Republicans nationallyas they gear up for presidential bids.
Christie and Bush top the ranking of Republicans whom voters say they “would definitely not support,” and their favorability ratings are also underwater.
Forty percent of those polled view Bush unfavorably, compared to 34 percent who perceive him favorably. Similarly, Christie received an unfavorable rating from 39 percent of respondents, while 32 percentresponded favorably. In both cases, roughly one quarter of Republicans said they still haven’t heard enough about the candidate to make a decision.
While most of the rest of the emerging Republican field rates more favorably with voters, roughly half of Republicans said they are not familiar enough with candidates such as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker or Sen. Marco Rubio to make a judgment — meaning the polling on these candidates could shift dramatically in the coming months as they introduce themselves to Republicans.
Bush and Christie, meanwhile, will face the challenge of re-introducing themselves to many Republicans who have already formed their first impressions. The onus is greater for Christie, who polled overall at 8 percent in the Quinnipiac survey.Bush is still a frontrunner nationally, with 16 percent. Walker continues to lead the Republican field in spite of recent missteps, with 18 percent.
The survey, conducted from Feb. 26 through Mar. 2, polled 1,286 registered voters by phone, including 554 Republicans. The margin of error among Republicans was 4.2 percent.
