After some polls that suggested the New Jersey Senate race was surprisingly close, recent surveys show Democratic incumbent Bob Menendez pulling away.
But GOP challenger Bob Hugin insisted on “The Laura Ingraham Show” Wednesday morning that the scandal-plagued Menendez (pictured above left) is still within striking distance of being upset November 6 in the 2018 midterm election.
“Our internal polls — and we’ve been consistent, and we’ve got, you know, world-class pollsters — this race is so tight; it’s like a statistical tie;” he said. “It’s really gonna come down to who gets the vote out.”
A Gravis poll in July sounded alarm bells for Team Menendez. The survey showed the incumbent with vastly superior name recognition and campaign resources leading Hugin (above right) by just 2 percentage points.
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Three subsequent polls put the incumbent’s lead at single digits, raising hopes among national Republicans that an upset may be in the making.
The last time a Republican represented New Jersey in the Senate was 1982, when Nicholas Brady was appointed to finish the term of Democrat Harrison Williams, who had resigned in disgrace after being convicted of accepting bribes in the Abscam scandal. New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972, when voters elected Clifford Case to a fourth term.
But the two most recent public polls pegged Menendez’s lead at 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Still, Hugin, a biopharmaceutical executive, argued that Menendez is vulnerable. He recently resurrected old allegations that Menendez and his longtime friend and campaign donor, Salomon Melgen, slept with prostitutes.
Hugin recently began airing ads linking Menendez to an FBI affidavit in 2015 declaring “specific, corroborated allegations” that the senator and his friend both had sex with underage prostitutes.
Authorities declined to bring charges related to that but did win a conviction of Melgen in a Medicare fraud case. Prosecutors also tried Menendez on bribery charges, but the jury deadlocked.
Hugin ripped Menendez for his behavior, especially in light of his vote against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation and his critical comments on the judge related to uncorroborated sexual assault allegations against him.
“We’ve been making clear this guy is so corrupt, and so ineffective, but on top of that, he’s a hypocrite,” he told Ingraham.
Hugin rejected claims that he is recycling old allegations. In fact, Hugin said, many New Jersey residents are not even aware of Menendez’s alleged misconduct.
“And it hasn’t been covered. Small numbers of people even know what he’s done,” he said.
Hugin said he is running on New Jersey’s inability to keep pace with the national economy or protect its tax dollars. He said the state’s economy has improved over the past couple of years, along with the rest of the country.
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“But we’re underperforming,” he said. “And the people of New Jersey are the most highly taxed people in the country … We’re losing families. Senior citizens are leaving.”
Asked what a U.S. senator could do about state tax rates, Hugin said he would shine a spotlight on the problem.
“Leaders lead,” he said. “Leaders go to where the problems are.”
Hugin also said he would work to make sure the Garden State got its fair share from the federal government.
“Washington has failed them … We get the least back from Washington than any state in the country,” he said.
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