Fellow Garden State residents have viewed a potential presidential bid by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as "unpopular."

Quinnipiac University's latest polling figures discovered New Jersey residents would rather vote for former New York Senator and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton than Christie. In a hypothetical election between Christie and Clinton, the potential Democratic presidential candidate received 52 percent, ahead of the 39 percent for Christie.

Among registered New Jersey Republicans, Christie is the preferred Republican presidential candidate ahead of presumptive candidates Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush, who received 18 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

"A year from now, we'll be focused on the first presidential primary in New Hampshire. If New Jersey primary voters were to decide, it would be the Native Son, Gov. Christopher Christie, vs. the Girl Next Door, Hillary Clinton," said Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Maurice Carroll. "His home-state Republicans give the (governor) a primary-election lead over two-time loser Mitt Romney and the other brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

"But the lady from across the Hudson River in Chappaqua continues to dominate presidential predictions in New Jersey. She rules the Democratic roost and leads all the Republicans - easily," added Carroll. "She has more than 50 percent against every one of the Republicans, including Christie."

Against Bush, Clinton increased her odds of victory to 53 percent against 37 percent for the former governor. Clinton also received 53 percent in a hypothetical race against Romney, while he attracted 38 percent of the poll.

It is not all bad news for Christie as he narrowly won the male vote against Clinton with 46 percent to 42 percent. Clinton led the female vote with 60 percent to 33 percent for Christie.

If Christie decides to run for president, 66 percent of New Jersey voters in the Quinnipiac University poll said he should resign as governor while 31 percent believe he should maintain his gubernatorial role.

"Even on that standard poll question - favorability - Christie is down 10 percentage points. His fellow Republicans don't do much better," Carroll said. "Clinton meanwhile, has a 21-point plus."

On the Democratic Party aisle, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was the second popular choice after Clinton with 11 percent. Vice President Joe Biden ranked third with 7 percent. If Clinton was not in the race, respondents' second choice was Biden, with 37 percent, while Warren's maintained second place with 23 percent.

The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted between Jan. 15 and Jan. 19 with 1,211 New Jersey voters' participation.

__

For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.