When was the last time a Republican won a U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey? Many of you reading this now aren't old enough to remember. Maybe you weren't even born. The year was 1972. Clifford Case a moderate/liberal Republican served until 1979. Case lost the Republican Primary to anti-tax Republican Jeff Bell. Bell then lost to Democrat Bill Bradley.
Bob Hugin who is the Republican running now is defining himself as "A different kind of Republican." He has not asked President Trump to campaign for him. Hugin has spent millions of his own money on his campaign. He is the executive chair of Celgene a bio-pharmaceutical company. Some of his differences with President Trump include support for changing federal tax laws to make them better for New Jersey, support for Roe vs. Wade and the Gateway Tunnel Project.
Bob Menendez has been in the Senate since 2006. Last year he was found not guilty of several corruption charges brought by the Justice Department. Menendez is from Union City and is a liberal Democrat on most issues. However, he did not support President Obama's attempts to soften U.S. policies toward Cuba.
The new Politico Poll released yesterday has Menendez with 45 percent and Hugin with 43 percent. The major negative for Menendez is trust. The margin of error is 4 percent.
The closest a Republican has come to winning a U.S. Senate race happened in 1990. Future Governor Christine Todd Whitman came with 55,000 votes of defeating Bill Bradley.
Source: Politico
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