Trump's Edison headquarters has turned out the lights as the candidate focuses on other battleground states Watch video
SECOND UPDATE: Trump's New Jersey advisor and Nutley Township Commissioner Steve Rogers called an NJ Advance Media reporter shortly after 3 p.m. to say that "right now the focus is not on opening a headquarters, working on a door you can walk through. We're going to see a ground campaign very shortly... it's going to focus on getting the vote out. This is just the beginning, there's no end here."
Rogers then sent an email to a reporter at 3:28 p.m. to add that "reports that the Tump (sic) Campaign is closing shop in NJ are not true. At present, we are in the process of organizing our ground campaign with the hundreds of volunteers we have recruited. A building for a HQ is a matter that will be decided upon in the future."
UPDATE: State Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Warren), the first New Jersey lawmaker to publicly endorse Donald Trump for president, emailed NJ Advance Media at 11:21 a.m. to say that "the campaign is actively seeking a new location and intends to open in the near future." Doherty added that it had "not set on an exact location just yet." We will update our readers as soon as we confirm the new location.
TRENTON -- Despite Gov. Chris Christie's claim in June that Donald Trump had put New Jersey "in play" for the November election, the campaign has apparently shuttered its headquarters in the state.
The Trump New Jersey campaign headquarters, which opened in Edison in May, is now unoccupied and bereft of any sign of staffers. The news of the departure was first reported by Politico New Jersey.
In mid-June, Christie told NJ Advance Media that Donald Trump had described New Jersey as one of 20 "targeted states" during a meeting with donors in New York City.
"He wants to compete here," Christie said at a Trump campaign event in Asbury Park. "I absolutely think he has a chance to win."
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But that was when a Monmouth University Poll had just put Trump within 4 points of Hillary Clinton in New Jersey.
By late June, a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll showed Clinton had opened her lead up to 12 points in a contest that includes both Trump and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson on the Libertarian ticket.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016, in Abingdon, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Not helping matters for Trump, who owns three New Jersey golf courses, is Christie's own job approval ratings stagnant at historical lows. A Monmouth University poll released in late June found 62 percent of Garden State voters disapprove of Christie's job performance, with 26 percent approving.
Officials for the Trump campaign in New Jersey and nationally did not respond to inquiries about its plans for the state.
State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris), a Trump campaign supporter, told Politico New Jersey that the Trump campaign hopes to open another office in New Jersey, though he said he knows of no immediate plans to do so.
Current polling trends in nearby Pennsylvania are similarly dour for Trump. No Republican has won Pennsylvania since 1988, and the latest Marist poll taken Aug. 3-7 shows Clinton ahead there by 8 points, well outside the margin of error.
Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
