The Powerball jackpot isn’t the only thing to hit a new high today.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s approval rating also jumped to a record 72%, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday, thanks in large part to his handling of the state’s response to Hurricane Sandy.
“Chris Christie never looked more like a ‘Jersey guy’ than when he stood on the seaside beach after the storm of the century and said New Jersey would come back,” said Mickey Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
Less than two weeks prior to Sandy, Christie’s rating was a much more modest 56%.
Even a majority of Democratic voters had to hand it to the Republican governor. Fifty-two percent of Democrats said they approved of Christie’s performance as governor, while only 39% said they disapproved. Christie led President Obama on a high-profile tour of storm damage days before the election, and called the president’s response to the storm “wonderful”.
The poll comes on the heels of Christie’s official filing on Monday to seek re-election in 2013, ending some speculation that the GOPer would step down to focus on a 2016 presidential bid.
Not only is the 72% approval rating a career high for Christie—it’s also the highest Quinnipiac has ever measured for any New Jersey governor.
Must be the fleece sweat suits.
Emma Margolin
Emma Margolin is a reporter at MSNBC.com.