Regrets? Christie Would Have Tied Romney

By Steven Shepard  //  October 4, 2011 | 1:36 p.m.
Updated: October 6, 2011 | 10:15 a.m.

If New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination, he would have been tied for the lead with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- and he would have run slightly ahead of President Obama among all voters, in Quinnipiac University polling that concluded Monday evening.

Christie and Romney ran even atop the GOP field, tied at 17 percent. Businessman Herman Cain was third, with 12 percent. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who led the previous Quinnipiac poll, conducted in late August, was at 10 percent. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was at seven percent, tied with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, was at six percent.

Without Christie in the race, Romney led Cain, 22 percent to 17 percent. Perry was third at 14 percent, while Palin (9 percent), Gingrich (8 percent) and Paul (6 percent) trailed the field.

In a general election matchup against President Obama, Christie led, 45 percent to 42 percent. Among independent voters, Christie led, 45 percent to 37 percent.

Christie's lead came despite the fact that he remains relatively unknown: 59 percent of voters (and 57 percent of Republicans) said they had not heard enough about him to form an opinion.

"This survey shows Gov. Christie is walking away from the possibility -- at least today -- to be elected president of the United States," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Whether he would have won the GOP nomination or the election will never be known, but the data indicate he had a serious chance to win it all." The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted Sept. 27-Oct. 3, surveying 2,118 registered voters, for a margin of error of +/- 2.1 percent. For the Republican primary, there were 927 Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters, for a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percent. The remainder of the Quinnipiac poll is slated to be released Wednesday morning.

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