Everybody hates Chris: Christie tops ‘never vote’ list in NH poll

The more New Hampshire Republicans see of Chris Christie, the less they seem to like him.

A New Hampshire Journal/coefficient poll found 46% of likely GOP primary voters in the Granite State say they “would never vote … under any circumstances” for the former New Jersey governor — despite Christie kicking off his presidential campaign in New Hampshire and spending much of his time there.

Christie is followed on the “never vote” list by former Vice President Mike Pence (40%), former President Donald Trump (26%), former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley (25%) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (20%).

The poll also shows Trump, 77, running away from his Republican competitors with 47% support, followed by DeSantis (13%), Christie (9%), Pence (5%), and the trio of Haley, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) at 3% each. Another 5% of Granite State Republicans said they would vote for someone else and 10% were undecided.

In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, Trump leads DeSantis by 49% to 23%, with another 28% saying they were undecided.

“Trump continues to show strength and invulnerability in the Republican primary field as he leads his closest challenger by 34%,” coefficient CEO Ryan Munce said of the poll.

In all, 45% of New Hampshire Republicans said they were “with Trump all the way,” while 26% said they would back “anyone but Trump” for the party’s nomination, and 29% that they liked the former president but were unsure he should be the GOP standard-bearer.

The race may undergo a major shakeup if the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire Democratic primary do not move back their voting dates to comply with their party’s calendar, potentially forcing President Biden off the ballot and bringing out tens of thousands more voters. (New Hampshire is an open primary, meaning unaffiliated voters can request a Republican or Democratic ballot at their polling place.)

Trump, who was arraigned Tuesday on 37 federal counts in connection with alleged mishandling of classified documents, has strong backing for his legal case from Granite State Republicans, with only 23% saying he is “clearly guilty and deserves to be punished” and 35% saying he “did not do anything wrong and should not be punished.”

A plurality of New Hampshire Republicans (42%) agreed with the statement, “I am not sure if he broke the law, but I believe he is only being prosecuted because he is Donald Trump.”

The same percentage of voters (42%) said the indictment made them more likely to support the former president, while 43% said it had no impact. Just 15% of New Hampshire Republicans said the case made them less likely to support Trump.

Trump was also indicted in March by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to “hush money” payments made before the 2016 election by his former legal fixer Michael Cohen to quash a story about Trump’s alleged tryst a decade earlier with porn star Stormy Daniels.

The former president maintains a 60% favorability rating among the New Hampshire GOP despite the New York and federal indictments. Just 29% say they have an unfavorable view of Trump, and 11% are unsure.

Meanwhile, 46% have a favorable view of DeSantis, 33% have an unfavorable view and 20% are unsure.

A plurality (43%) of New Hampshire GOPers also see Trump as “the only Republican who can beat Biden” in the 2024 election, while 24% believe he will lose to the 80-year-old incumbent. Another 22% are unsure about Trump’s chances next November and 11% believe he will perform the same as any other GOP candidate.

The former president was hosted at a CNN town hall in New Hampshire last month that drew more than 3 million viewers.

The poll surveyed 904 likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters between June 14 and 16, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.25 percentage points.