New Jersey Senate race: Menendez, Hugin almost even in new poll, but most undecided

New Jersey voters' approval of Sen. Bob Menendez has gone up since his trial last year, but he still faces challenges both from a Republican opponent and from voter indecision as he heads into his re-election campaign this year, a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released Friday said.

The poll said 28 percent of registered voters supported two-term Democrat Menendez while 24 percent backed Republican Bob Hugin. An additional 46 percent were undecided. By comparison, Menendez led Republican Joseph Kyrillos by 42 percent to 33 percent in an FDU poll taken in May 2012, the last time he was up for re-election.

The good news for Menendez is that his job approval rating is recovering since the corruption trial. In October, the FDU poll found 57 percent of voters disapproved of the job Menendez was doing, a figure that dropped to 39 percent in the latest survey. At the same time, those saying they approved increased from 26 percent to 33 percent.

The October survey came in the middle of a trial that ended in a mistrial in November after jurors split 10-2 in favor of acquittal. The judge in the case acquitted Menendez of the most serious bribery charges in January, saying the government had not proved its case. A week later, prosecutors dropped the rest of their case.

Story continues after the video

In April, the Senate's ethics committee "severely admoninished" Menendez for accepting undisclosed gifts and advocating for a donor's personal and business interests. Menendez was ordered to repay his friend and former co-defendant, Salomon Melgen, for trips he took on Melgen's private jet and stays at hotels and Melgen's home in a Dominican Republic resort.

Poll director Krista Jenkins said the trial and admonishment "are clearly taking their toll."

"These numbers suggest he’s going to have to woo voters like he hasn’t had to in a long time,” she said.

New Jersey has a higher opinion of Sen. Cory Booker, a fellow Democrat. Booker's approval/disapproval ratio was 55 percent to 27 percent.

The poll of 856 New Jersey registered voters was conducted using land lines and cellphones from May 16 through Monday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

More NJ politics news

RADIO: Gov. Phil Murphy, WNYC clash over call-in program and abruptly cancel

CAMPAIGN PROMISE TRACKER: Phil Murphy's promises on minimum wage, PARCC testing, NJ Transit and more

GUN VIOLENCE: Moment of silence won't save lives, New Jersey Congress member shouts on House floor

TAXES: What IRS targeting New Jersey means for your taxes