Polls: Corzine Up In One, Christie Ahead In Another

A new pair of polls in New Jersey show how much of a toss-up this gubernatorial race has become, with Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine narrowly leading in one and Republican candidate Chris Christie just barely leading in the other.

From the New York Times: Corzine 40%, Christie 37%, and independent Chris Daggett with 14%, with a margin of error of between 4% and 5% for likely voters.

From SurveyUSA: Christie 40%, Corzine 39%, Daggett 18%, with a ±4% margin of error. A week ago, SurveyUSA had Christie up by 43%-40%-14%.

The New York Times poll demonstrates how voters have come to view this race as a choice of the lesser of two evils: "But a majority of voters say they cannot relate personally to either Mr. Christie or Mr. Corzine, and neither man is considered likable: 46 percent of voters view Mr. Corzine unfavorably, 30 percent favorably, and 23 percent have no opinion. For Mr. Christie, 41 percent do not have an opinion, 37 percent view him unfavorably and 19 percent have a favorable opinion of him. Mr. Daggett, who lacks the money to advertise heavily, is unknown to most voters: nearly 8 in 10 have no opinion of him."