Poll: Christie most popular among 2016 contenders

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is the best-regarded 2016 Republican presidential candidate among both women and men, as well as members of both parties.

Fifty-five percent of registered voters nationwide who have heard of Christie view him favorably, and he's the only candidate in the poll conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University that is viewed favorably by a majority of both men and women who know of him. Forty-six percent of those who know of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio view him favorably, and 45 percent who know of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal see him positively as well.

A majority of Democrats, Republicans and independents who know of Christie also view him favorably.

The university tested Christie, Rubio, Jindal, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former presidential contender Rick Santorum.

Of the five, though Christie is best-liked among those who know him, only 68 percent of those polled knew who he was.

Bush registered the highest name recognition, with 80 percent of respondents saying they knew who he was, and Santorum came in a close second, with 79 percent familiar with him.

Jindal had the lowest name recognition, with only 37 percent of respondents saying they know who he is.

However, though Bush has the highest name recognition, only 32 percent of those familiar with him think of him favorably. Santorum has about the same amount of support among registered voters that know who he is.

It's a reminder that the potential contenders' past political careers will weigh on them heavily in a future run.

Though Santorum has privately expressed interest in a 2016 run, the FDU poll indicates he'll have to do some image rebuilding over the next four years, after emerging from a drawn-out presidential primary that left all participants bruised.

Bush, too, may need to begin to distance himself from his brother, President George W. Bush, on the national stage. The former president left office with a 34 percent approval rating, according to Gallup.

The poll was conducted among 814 registered voters nationwide from Dec. 10-16, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.