By Matt Rooney
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With under two weeks to go before New Jersey passes judgment on their corrupt senior U.S. Senator, Save Jerseyans, Bob Menendez leads Republican challenger Bob Hugin by a very narrow five margin, 51%-46%. That’s according to the results of a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.
In a word? It’s close.
“After his recent onslaught of attack ads against Menendez, Hugin is making this race much closer than it should be for an incumbent in a blue state,” opined Ashley Koning, and assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling (ECPIP) at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. “But what’s most responsible for the narrow margin here is the corruption charges against Menendez that have haunted his entire re-election campaign. Mistrial or not, the charges have dampened support where Menendez needs it most – with independents and even a handful of his own base.”
Hugin wins Republicans easily and independents by a 7-point margin.
Menendez, however, posts a double-digit lead among women, non-white voters, and likely voters under the age of 50, the heart of the Democrat coalition which now boasts a nearly one million strong state-wide registration advantage over the N.J. GOP. It’s Democrats who are propping up a guy who (1) narrowly escaped jail via mistrial, (2) was severely admonished by a bipartisan U.S. Senate committee for accepting $1 million in “gifts” from a guy who blinded seniors to bilk Medicare, and (3) was investigated by the FBI which reported corroborated allegations of engaging underage prostitutes.
So much for “country over party” right?
We always knew they weren’t serious. They can prove us wrong on November 6th, of course, but I’m not holding my breath.
In any event, the incumbent Democrat’s lead in the RCP average now stands at 7.7-points. It’s not nearly enough to make Democrats comfortable; a major national PAC just invested $3 million to shore up Menendez, a man who narrowly escaped prison by way of a mistrial and who was subsequently severely admonished by the bipartisan ethics committee of the United States Senate for improperly accepting $1 million in gifts.
Both candidates will meet on Wednesday night for a televised and online-streamed debate. Click here for the link.
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