Several polls out this week weren't good news for Sen. Bob Menendez. One even showed him neck and neck with Republican Bob Hugin -- a startling turn of events in the year of an expected blue wave across the country.

Here's some worse news. Menendez might be seeing a key building block of his normally sturdy base eroding right before his eyes.

Bishop Jethro James, leader of an 86-member black pastors' association, is upset the Menendez camp seems to assume they have the black vote wrapped up.

"The Democrats have been taking the African-American vote for granted for too long," he said in his office at Paradise Baptist Church in Newark. "It's an insult. Some folks in the two-party system think this is like a political plantation: 'You do what we say.' We are long past that."

The source of James' ire was a call he received from T. Missy Balmir, a senior adviser for Menendez and veteran player in Democratic state politics. The call came after James hosted Hugin in his 400-member church a few weeks ago.

"They basically said, 'Why did you invite him to your church? Why did you have a Republican in?'" James recalled.

Balmir is no rookie. According to her LinkedIn, she is a "political operative in nearly every statewide election in NJ for the past 15 years." She worked in Gov. Jon Corzine's administration and was senior adviser to state Senate President Steve Sweeney.

She was also the African American Base Vote program director for Rep. Rush Holt, and for Menendez and Cory Booker in their Senate races. In effect, she's charged with making sure a core part of the Democratic base comes out to vote.

But the call left James angry.

"I like Missy. I don't want to throw her under the bus. But you don't make a call like that without getting someone's permission," James said, intimating it might have come as a directive from Menendez or another top member of his team.

Steven Sandberg, the communications director for Menendez, acknowledged the conversation happened, but said it was described to him by Balmir as "cordial."

"It was just a conversation among friends," Sandberg said. "It wasn't a scolding or threatening in any way whatsoever. That's not Missy's M.O."

But the larger question of whether Menendez takes black voters of New Jersey for granted is one that lingers, especially in a year when Democrats are fighting tooth-and-nail to upset the current balance of the U.S. Senate, where Republicans hold an advantage. Seats initially expected to go to Republicans, such as in Nevada, Arizona and Missouri, all now appear to be trending Democrat. In all, Democrats are trying to hold 10 seats in states won by President Donald Trump.

It would be an irony of epic proportions if the Democrats were to lose the Senate because of New Jersey -- a state that hasn't elected a Republican senator in 46 years.

"You know how many times I invited Bob Menendez to my church?" James said. "You know how many times he's come? None. But at election time, they want our endorsement."

Regarding the decision to invite Hugin to his church, James said he simply wanted to give his congregation a chance "to make an informed decision."

Of specific interest to James was Hugin's stance on health care and the legalization of marijuana, though U.S. senators have no sway in New Jersey's current conversation.

"I met him several weeks ago and I was interested in what he had to say," James said.

And, as it turned out, James seemed to like a lot of what Hugin -- the former chairman and CEO of Celgene Corp., a New Jersey biotech company specializing in drugs for cancer and chronic disease -- had to say.

"We (African-Americans) are 40 percent more likely to get cancer," James said. "I'd say about 40 percent of the women in my congregation have had breast cancer. I myself had prostate cancer. Bob Hugin's company made the drugs that saved my life."

Hugin's campaign literature says he wants to go to Washington to fix health care and make it more accessible and affordable.

"He talked about all the urban hospitals that have closed down," James said. "He seems to have ideas that will help our community. Why not listen to him?"

Does the story of Bishop Jethro James represent a kind of canary in the coal mine? After all, this is a man whose office looks like a Democrats' Hall of Fame.

He has pictures with Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Frank Lautenberg, Jesse Jackson, Booker and Menendez. He has a congratulatory letter signed by Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Elijah Cummings and Ted Daschle.

James said he is no longer a registered Democrat.

"I'm an independent," he said. "I don't want to vote for a party. I want to vote for a person. I am voting for the integrity of the person."

Sandberg said Menendez has met with James "multiple times" personally and as a part of larger discussions.

"They've had a good relationship," Sandberg said.

But James said "party politics" has led to acceptance of substandard conditions for African-Americans.

"I can't endorse anybody who tells me, 'Line A all the way,'" James said, referring to the days when Essex County Democrats had an uncanny knack for getting the top line in the voting booth. "That's an insult to our intelligence. It says you don't trust us to make our decision based on information."

Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkDiIonno. Find NJ.com on Facebook.