By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Patrick Murray, head of the Monmouth University Polling Institute that’s been the state’s most consistently accurate public election predictor in recent cycles, has been flexing his influence muscles quite a bit in the early 2016 cycle, Save Jerseyans. He almost single-handily sunk the Democrats’ wildly-evil redistricting amendment last week; last summer, he earned the ire of Governor Christie for publishing unflattering commentary along with even less flattering polling results.
It’s rare for a pollster to develop this kind of independent influence.
Zogby and Rasmussen kind of/sort of had it at the national level for a couple of cycles a piece until off-base predictions destroyed their respective auras. For now, Murray’s track record and thorough analysis, mixed together with smart branding and infused personality that’s well-suited for the digital age, is placing him into the unusual position of arbitrating, to a limited but significant degree, not just election prognostications but also how our state conducts them (see above).
All the more reason to take his latest assessment of the shifting allegiances observed in the GOP’s key battleground primary electorates – and the role played by Donald Trump’s candidacy – under serious consideration:
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