PublicMind

PublicMind™, the University’s independent polling organization, generated lots of attention in 2012 following several widely reported surveys. One poll even generated a viral video starring New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Internally, the group promoted Krista Jenkins — veteran survey analyst and political science — to director of PublicMind, following the decision by Co-Founder and Executive Director Peter Woolley to take on a new role in July. Woolley assumed the position of College at Florham provost and senior vice provost for government and community affairs.

A PublicMind poll exploring Gov. Christie’s approval rating was cited at the beginning of the YouTube video. “Don’t Worry, We’ve Got This,” a three-minute clip, spoofs on the heroic efforts of Booker after he saved his next-door neighbor from a house fire. Media coverage included The Star-Ledger and NorthJersey.com, among others. The video has more than 400,000 views to date on YouTube.

Other PublicMind polls making news in the Garden State and elsewhere looked at topics such as: the 2012 election, consumer confidence, online gambling, news consumption, political name calling and pet restraints. Most recently, PublicMind polled Garden State residents on the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Some of this year’s poll highlights include:

News Consumption: A follow-up survey confirmed that news outlets Fox News and MSNBC have a negative impact on people’s current events knowledge. Coverage on the poll from the Huffington Post acquired more than 60,000 “likes” and 15,600 shares on Facebook alone. Other media coverage of this poll included various blogs from the Washington Post, Huffington Post and Boston.com, among others.

Political Name Calling: Most New Jersey voters said that politicians should avoid name calling and be respectful of their opponents. According to the poll, 87 percent say politicians should lay off the name calling, while just 10 percent say it is OK for politicians to make a strong point by calling their opponent a name.

Online Gambling: A statewide poll found that about three in five voters oppose allowing New Jersey casinos to run betting games over the Internet for people in the state. Opposition is widespread, even though 60 percent of voters support legal sports betting at New Jersey casinos and racetracks.

Pet Restraints: In September, New Jersey voters approved with a slim margin a proposed law that would require dog owners to put their animal in a safety restraint or crate when in the car.

Superstorm Sandy: Following the devastating October hurricane, New Jersey voters gave positive marks to the government and electric companies for their post-storm response. Seventy-five percent of respondents rated the job done by the state as “excellent” or “good,” while 69 percent of those polled said their power company did the best it could despite the circumstances.

These polls and others from this year were reported in international media such as the Irish Independent and the Toronto Star, as well as national media, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Bloomberg, Huffington Post, Newsday and the New York Post.