Normally, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) would expect to get 80%-90% of the Hispanic vote in left-leaning New Jersey. Following federal corruption charges that yielded a mistrial and a general mistrust of the man that’s been building since 2015, recent polls show him at a mere 57% with less than a month to go.

20% favor Republican Bob Hugin, an unfathomable number when the campaign started. Combine that with 19% of New Jersey Hispanics still undecided plus 3% choosing Libertarian candidate Murray Sabin and you have the recipe for a major upset in the upcoming midterm elections.

This could be another sign Menendez faces trouble with Jersey voters Coker suggested that Menendez’s ethical problems may have turned off Hispanic voters. They said honesty and integrity in government was the third most important issue facing the country (15 percent), behind only the economy (21 percent) and immigration (18 percent). Coker suggested that Menendez’s ethical problems may have turned off Hispanic voters. They said honesty and integrity in government was the third most important issue facing the country (15 percent), behind only the economy (21 percent) and immigration (18 percent). Honesty in government had not been offered as a choice in Mason-Dixon polls of Hispanic voters in other states, but so many respondents in New Jersey named it as their top concern without prompting that it was added to this survey, Coker said.

My Take

When the level of distrust towards a politician is so great that they have to make special polls to accommodate you, chances are pretty good that the people don’t trust you. Fortunately for Menendez, this information comes with enough time left for him to try to reverse the damage he’s done.

A month is plenty of time to re-energize his base. On the other hand, Hugin has sunk of ton of his own money in and is getting help from the GOP to try to flip a seat that was once thought secured for the Democrats.

Senator Menendez represents the worst parts of the Democratic Party. New Jersey and the nation would be better served if they would give him his walking papers on election day. It’s time for Bob Hugin to be the next Senator of New Jersey.