HAMDEN, Conn., Sept. 1 (UPI) -- New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has been losing ground to challenger Chris Christie as the candidates hammer each other with attack ads, a poll Tuesday indicated.
The Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters found that if the election were held now, 47 percent would vote for Christie, the Republican candidate and a former U.S. attorney for New Jersey; 37 percent would go for the Democrat Corzine; and 9 percent for Chris Daggett, a former state and federal environmental official running as an independent.
In an Aug. 11 Quinnipiac Poll Christie led by 6 points.
More than half of those surveyed, 56 percent, said Corzine ads linking Christie to former President George W. Bush were unfair, while 36 percent said they were fair. The split tended to be even on other ads from both sides.
"But New Jersey is hardened to in-your-face politics," said Maurice Carroll, the polling institute's director. "Is the Corzine vs. Christie slugfest just regular campaign stuff or nasty even by New Jersey's rugged standards? Standard stuff, voters say 63 - 31 percent."
New Jersey and Virginia are the two states with off-year gubernatorial races this year.
