Raleigh, N.C. –
PPP's newest New Jersey poll finds Cory Booker leading the pack for Democratic
Senatorial Candidate in 2014. In a hypothetical head-to-head, Booker leads the
race with a 23 point spread over Republican Lieutenant Governor, Kim Guadagno. That
lead narrows to15 points when current NJ Senator Frank Lautenberg is pitted against
her. The results for Guadagno versus Congressmen Rob Andrews and Frank Pallone are
well within the margin of error at 34-35 and 32-32 respectively.
Equally promising for Booker is how voters responded when asked if Frank
Lautenberg should retire. 45% said he should retire, compared to 36% saying he
should run for reelection. Based on the results, it looks like New Jersey
Democrats are ready for a fresher face in the Senate, and would prefer Booker.
New Jersey voters like Frank Lautenberg well enough. He has a 43/36 approval rating and in a hypothetical match up with Republican Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno he would lead right now by a 15 point margin at 48/33.
Democratic primary voters are pretty happy with Lautenberg right now too. 63% approve of the job he's doing to 18% who disapprove. Nevertheless they're ready for a fresher face in the Senate. Only 36% of them think Lautenberg should seek another term in 2014, while 45% think he should retire and 20% are not sure.
If Lautenberg was to retire- or even if he doesn't- the choice of New Jersey Democrats to be their next Senator is clear: Cory Booker. By a 59/22 margin Democrats say they would prefer their candidate in 2014 be Booker than Lautenberg. And Booker emerges as the strong favorite in an open seat situation too. 48% would want Booker as their candidate compared to 17% for Rob Andrews and 13% for Frank Pallone, both Congressmen who have shown an interest in moving up.
Booker would be even stronger than Lautenberg in a head to head match up with Guadagno, leading her 52 to 29. 48% of New Jersey voters have a favorable opinion of Booker to only 20% with a negative one. He's very popular with Democrats (60/13) and independents (45/21) and even comes close to breaking even with Republicans at 29/34. In the match up with Guadagno he takes 21% of the GOP vote while losing only 7% of Democrats, and wins independents by an 18 point margin.
PPP is best known for putting out highly accurate polling on key political races across the country, but we also do affordable private research for candidates and organizations. Why pay tens of thousands of dollars for a survey when one of the most reliable companies in the nation can do it for less?"
