Survey: Chris Christie Most Disliked GOP Candidate in Field

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is the most disliked Republican candidate in the GOP primary field, this week’s Morning Consult survey found.

As is consistent with past weekly surveys, Trump continues to stand as the candidate with the highest favorability among Republicans, with 71 percent viewing him favorably. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis comes in second place with 63 percent reporting a favorable view of the presidential hopeful. Both Trump and DeSantis, however, see roughly a quarter of respondents reporting an unfavorable view of them — 26 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

Half view former Vice President Mike Pence favorably, but he has the second highest unfavorable rating among all candidates listed, coming in with 39 percent reporting an unfavorable view.

While remaining candidates have favorable ratings under 50 percent, many of them still suffer from a lack of name-recognition. For instance, 48 percent have a favorable view of anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and 13 percent have an unfavorable view. However, nearly a quarter, 23 percent, have never heard of him.

Five of the candidates listed have a favorable rating underwater — former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Rep. Will Hurd, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the last of whom has the highest unfavorable rating of all the candidates.

Forty-five percent view Christie unfavorably, compared to 24 percent who have a favorable view. Another 13 percent said they have never heard of him, and 17 percent said they have heard of him but have no opinion.

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The survey was taken July 27-29, 2023, among 827 potential Republican primary voters and has a  +/-4 percent margin of error.

Christie is one of seven candidates who has reportedly qualified for the first Republican primary debate, taking place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23. It remains unclear how he will be received by the audience, given the fact that the audience at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference booed him after he used his June speech to diss Trump.

It also remains unclear if Trump will participate in the first debate, writing on social media Monday, “Let them debate so I can see who I MIGHT consider for Vice President!”

“Listen, I’m torn on it,” Donald Trump Jr. told Breitbart News in July after being asked about the possibility of his father debating. “I mean, the meme general in me wants to see it because I know he’ll do great. At the same time, am I gonna give, you know, Asa Hutchinson polling at .01 percent, you know Chris Christie, polling at 1 percent, you know, a three-hour window to basically crap all over you?”

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