Passing on White House Bid Boosts Christie's Rating in N.J.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's approval rating has spiked after announcing that he would not seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, with the bulk of the swing coming from women, a group with which he had struggled, according to two new polls released early Wednesday.

In a new Quinnipiac University poll, Christie's approval rating is up 11 points since the previous survey, conducted in mid-August. Now, 58 percent of Garden State voters approve of the job he is doing, while 38 percent disapprove. Two months ago, voters were split, 47 percent to 46 percent, on Christie's job performance.

Meanwhile, a new Monmouth University poll also out Wednesday shows Christie at a new high among all adults, with a 54 percent approval rating, up from 48 percent in early August.

Women have swung in favor of Christie by a significant margin over the past two months. In August, 55 percent of female voters disapproved of Christie in a Quinnipiac poll, but now a narrow majority approves of his job performance. In the Monmouth poll, 53 percent of women approve of the job he is doing, up from 45 percent in August.

A majority of voters in the Quinnipiac poll think the Christie-for-president chatter was good for the Garden State, while less than a quarter say it was bad for the state. And the vast majority of voters think Christie's political career will take him beyond Trenton: 73 percent think he has a future after Drumthwacket, while just 22 percent believe he does not, according to Quinnipiac.

Christie on Tuesday endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president, but all of the interviews that comprise the surveys were conducted before the endorsement. The Quinnipiac poll was conducted Oct. 5-10, surveying 1,186 registered voters. The margin of error is +/- 2.9 percent. The Monmouth poll was conducted Oct. 5-9, surveying 817 adults in the state. The margin of error is +/- 3.4 percent.

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