Runyan, Menendez, Obama Lead in the Third District, Stockton Poll Says

Voters polled by Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Polling Institute continued to favor the incumbents in the institute’s second poll, the college announced on Thursday, Oct. 4.

The poll of 614 likely voters, conducted from Sept. 28-Oct. 2 showed voters in the third congressional district favored Congreesman Jon Runyan, President Barack Obama and Sen. Bob Menendez.

The college announced it would start its own polling institute in April and dedicated it Sept. 14. The institute is part of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy.

Voters favor Runyan, the Republican incumbent, by a margin of 49 percent to 39 percent over Democratic challenger Shelley Adler.

“These polling results are from the first independent poll made public in this district,” said Daniel J. Douglas, Director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy. “With 12 percent of voters undecided, candidate Adler still has an opportunity to close the lead on Runyan, though Runyan is clearly in a better position,”

The poll indicates a 51 percent very or somewhat favorable rating for Runyan and a 26 percent somewhat or very unfavorable rating, while 21 percent of those surveyed were unsure or were unfamiliar with him.

Adler saw a very or somewhat favorability rating of 39 percent, while 26 percent of those surveyed have a somewhat or very unfavorable opinion. One-third of those surveyed are unfamiliar with Adler, or are unsure.

While only 10 percent of voters approve of Congress’ job performance and 87 percent disapprove, 43 percent view Runyan’s individual performance as excellent or good and 37 percent rate his performance as fair or poor.

Democratic incumbent Menendez leads Republican challenger Joseph Kyrillos by a margin of 46 to 38 percent in the third congressional district.

Democratic incumbent Obama leads Republican challenger Mitt Romney by a margin of 49 to 41 percent in the third congressional district.

Those surveyed also rated Gov. Chris Christie's job performance, with 50 percent rating it as excellent or good and 48 percent rating his performance as fair or poor, but his overall favorability rating remains over 50 percent, at 51 percent. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed viewed him somewhat or very favorably, and 40 percent view him somewhat or very unfavorably.

The poll was conducted via both cell phone and landline, and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent, the college said. Those conducting the polls called from the Stockton College campus, the college said. All households on the source calling list have the same opportunity of being called because of the random digital dialing system (RDD).

Data were weighted based on United States Census demographic data.

The third congressional district is made up of Burlington and Ocean counties.

Last week, the institute released its first poll, showing voters in the second congressional district favored incumbent Congressman Frank LoBiondo, Obama and Menendez.