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As influential members of the Republican donor class make a renewed push to convince New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to run for president, a new Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind survey out early Tuesday shows Christie's poll numbers are improving among voters in his home state.

Christie's approval rating stands at 54 percent, while 36 percent of voters disapprove of the job he is doing. His approval rating is up ten points from May, when it stood at 44 percent, with the same percentage disapproving.

His personal favorability is also up: 49 percent have a favorable opinion of the governor, while 41 percent have an unfavorable view of him. That's almost a ten-point jump from May, when 40 percent held a favorable opinion of Christie and 45 percent held an unfavorable opinion of him.

Despite his national prominence, Christie hasn't been a political slam dunk in the Garden State. A budget standoff earlier this year was largely responsible for lowering his numbers.

"The spring budget battles at every level -- municipal, county, and state -- hurt the governor," said Peter Woolley, director of the poll. "But he got a big win on pension and benefits reform in June, and weathered Hurricane Irene in August."

The new poll, ironically, counters one of the main arguments for Christie to enter the White House race: If he's not going to win reelection in 2013, why not take a shot nationally in 2012, the argument goes. But if the boost in his numbers is a lasting one, and Christie is seriously interested in reelection, there is less incentive to opt for higher office this early in his tenure.