Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has a sizable lead over Donald Trump in New Jersey, despite the presumptive GOP nominee’s past insistence that he could pull off an upset in the state.
Clinton leads Trump by 21 points in the Garden State — 52 percent to 31 percent — among registered voters, according to a new Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll released Wednesday.
The inclusion of Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, a former GOP governor often seen as an alternative for anti-Trump Republican voters, actually takes more votes away from Clinton. With Johnson’s name thrown in the fray, Clinton’s lead is cut nearly in half, although it remains in double digits: 44 percent to 32 percent. Nine percent then go for Johnson.
“Democrats are breaking for Clinton with Republicans squarely behind Trump. Both major party candidates have a strong base of supporters. Even though there’s been speculation that Johnson would draw Republicans away from Trump, his effect in the Garden State pales in comparison to the expectation,” Krista Jenkins, a political science professor and PublicMind director, said.
However, registered New Jersey voters are more inclined to think to think Clinton will win the election in November, regardless of who they are voting for. When asked, 59 percent say Clinton and 30 percent say Trump will win the presidency.
In 2012, President Obama beat Republican nominee Mitt Romney by 18 points in the Garden State. New Jersey hasn’t voted Republican since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
The telephone-based poll of 712 registered voters was conducted June 22-26 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
