Who has Gov. Murphy helped or hurt the most in NJ?

What do you think of the job Phil Murphy is doing as governor?

After winning reelection five months ago, a clear majority of New Jersey residents now give him a thumbs up, according to a just-released survey.

Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Poll, said the latest numbers indicate Phil Murphy has a 55% approval and 35% disapproval rating after his approval dipped to 50% during the re-election campaign.

In 2020, when the pandemic started to spread, the governor’s approval rating topped 70%.

There is still a significant segment of the public questioning what the governor has been able to accomplish.

“For example, just 30% said he had major accomplishments to point to, 42% say he’s had minor accomplishments, but about 1 in 4 say he has real accomplishments so far,” Murray said.

Murray said as a point of comparison, “if we go back eight years ago to Gov. Christie, when he started his second term only 10% said he had no accomplishments at that point.”

The poll finds Murphy gets positive ratings from 86% of Democrats, 51% of independents, and 17% of Republicans,

New Jersey’s biggest issue

Property taxpayers are the least enthused by Murphy, with 13% saying his policies have helped while 46% say his policies have hurt them.

Murray said when respondents were asked about how the governor’s agenda has impacted the middle class, 27% say they've been helped while 38% say Murphy has hurt them.

Respondents also give Murphy low marks when it comes to helping the business community.

Many businesses are struggling

The poll finds 29% of residents think businesses have been helped by the governor, while 38% say he has had a negative impact on businesses.

He said the main group that people feel has been helped by the Murphy administration is lower wage earners, with 37% saying that he has helped the poor.

The poll also finds 26% of respondents think Murphy’s policies have helped wealthy residents while 21% believe they have hurt them, and 20% say the governor has helped transit riders, while 17% believe they’ve been hurt.

The Monmouth University Poll was conducted by telephone from March 31 to April 4, with 802 New Jersey adults. The question results in this release have a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.

David Matthau is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at david.matthau@townsquaremedia.com

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