Governor poll: Kean tops, McGreevey flops

Governor poll: Kean tops, McGreevey flops

Former Gov. James E. McGreevey can confess all he wants, but he is the most disliked living chief executive in the state, according to a new poll.

But for former Gov. Thomas H. Kean Sr., he and New Jersey are still perfect together, state residents say.

Kean, a popular Republican governor in the 1980s who touted the "New Jersey and You: Perfect Together" tourism pitch amid a booming economy, remains the most popular of the seven living former governors and Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

More than half the respondents -- 55 percent -- had a favorable opinion about Kean, compared with an 11 percent unfavorable rating, a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey newspapers poll shows.

State residents rated former governors and the current governor in the poll. It seems good economic times, or at least the ability to deliver a quip, burnish the gubernatorial image in the eyes of votes.

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