Matched in his home state, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) loses to former Vice President Joe Biden in a Democratic Primary for President, according to today’s Monmouth University Poll of New Jersey Democratic voters and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party. Booker also loses to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, statewide polling from Monmouth that in its top three spots reflects national trends.

In a presidential preference test, Booker (9%) trails Biden (26%), Warren (20%), and Sanders (18%).  California Sen. Kamala Harris (6%) and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (6%) are the only other candidates in a field of 19 who garner more than 2% support.

“The field will certainly be much smaller by the time New Jersey’s presidential primary rolls around.

Booker’s home state standing could change dramatically if he can score an upset win in one of the February contests. But as it stands right now, Jersey Democrats are gravitating toward the three candidates who currently dominate the national spotlight,” said Monmouth University Poll Director Patrick Murray.

Despite Booker’s lower standing in the presidential preference poll, he earns personal ratings on par with the other top contenders. Among New Jersey Democrats and Democratic leaners, Booker has a 60% favorable to 24% unfavorable rating, which is similar to Biden (64% to 23%), Sanders (63% to 25%), and Warren (59% to 17%).  Booker has better ratings than either Harris (43% to 22%) or Buttigieg (40% to 13%), although both those candidates are not as well known to New Jersey Democrats.

According to the Monmouth Poll, the New Jersey public as a whole has become less likely to feel that Booker would make a good president since he first launched his campaign. Currently, 29% say he would make a good president and 52% say he would not, with 19% having no opinion. In February, 37% felt he would make a good president and 42% said he would not. A small majority of Democrats (55%, down from 65% in February) say Booker would make a good president, compared to just 21% of independents (down from 32%), and 4% of Republicans (similar to 3%).

MORE POSITIVE VIBES FOR VP

Reviews are more positive when his constituents picture Booker in the vice presidential slot.  Just under half (48%) say Booker would make a good running mate compared to 39% who say he would not, with another 13% offering no opinion. More than 3-in-4 Democrats (78%) say Booker is solid vice presidential material, compared with 39% of independents and 17% of Republicans who say the same.

Opposition has softened on Booker being on the national ticket in 2020 and simultaneously running for reelection to his U.S. Senate seat.  Nearly half the public (49%) says he should only run for president or vice president, which is down from 66% who said he should only pursue national office seven months ago. On the other hand, 29% say Booker should run for both senate and national office (as allowed by state law), which is up slightly from 21% in February. Another 22% have no opinion on what Booker should do in this situation, which is up from 13%.  It should be noted that the February question only asked about the possibility of Booker running for president, while the current poll question included president or vice president as the national office option.  Opposition to Booker being on the 2020 ballot for two different offices has dropped among all partisan groups since February.

Monmouth University conducted the poll by telephone from September 12 to 16, 2019 with 713 New Jersey adults, which has a +/- 3.7 percentage point sampling margin of error.  Some results in this release are based on 325 registered voters who identify as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party and have a margin of error of +/- 5.4 percentage points.  The poll was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch.

QUESTIONS AND RESULTS                                                             

(* Some columns may not add to 100% due to rounding.)

[Q1 & Q4 held for future release.]

[Q2-3 previously released.]

[QUESTIONS 5 & 6 WERE ROTATED]

5.     Do you approve or disapprove of the job Bob Menendez is doing as United States Senator?

6.     Do you approve or disapprove of the job Cory Booker is doing as United States Senator?

[Q7-10 previously released.]

11.  How much have you heard about the drinking water problem in the city of Newark – a lot, a little, or nothing at all?

11B.  How much responsibility does Cory Booker have for this problem – a great deal, some, only a little, or none at all?

[Q12-16 held for future release.]

[Q17 WAS ASKED OF REGISTERED VOTERS WHO IDENTIFY AS DEMOCRATS OR LEAN TOWARD THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY; n= 325, moe= +/- 5.4%.]

17.    I know the 2020 election is far away, but who would you support for the Democratic nomination for president if the candidates were the following? [INCLUDES LEANERS] [NAMES WERE ROTATED]

[Q18 WAS ASKED OF REGISTERED VOTERS WHO IDENTIFY AS DEMOCRATS OR LEAN TOWARD THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY; n= 325, moe= +/-5.4%.]

18.   I’m going to read you the names of some people who are running for president in 2020.  Please tell me if your general impression of each is favorable or unfavorable, or if you don’t really have an opinion. If you have not heard of the person, just let me know. [NAMES WERE ROTATED]

ASKED OF EVERYONE:

19.   Do you think Cory Booker would or would not make a good president?

20.   If he does not win the nomination, do you think Cory Booker would or would not make a good running mate for vice president?

21.   Booker is up for reelection to the Senate in 2020. If he wins the Democratic nomination for either president or vice president, do you think he should run for Senate as well or just run for president or vice president?

    *Feb ’19 Question did not include the nomination for vice president

[Q22-41 held for future release.]

METHODOLOGY

The Monmouth University Poll was sponsored and conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute from September 12 to 16, 2019 with a random sample of 713 New Jersey adults age 18 and older, in English. This includes 359 contacted by a live interviewer on a landline telephone and 354 contacted by a live interviewer on a cell phone. Telephone numbers were selected through random digit dialing and landline respondents were selected with a modified Troldahl-Carter youngest adult household screen. Monmouth is responsible for all aspects of the survey design, data weighting and analysis. Final sample is weighted for region, age, education, gender and race based on US Census information. Data collection support provided by Braun Research (field) and Dynata (RDD sample). For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling has a maximum margin of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points (unadjusted for sample design). Sampling error can be larger for sub-groups (see table below). In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

###