Booker’s national profile may be a disadvantage in the race, according to the poll. Poll: N.J. Senate race tightens

Newark Mayor Cory Booker still holds a double-digit lead over his Republican challenger in the New Jersey Senate race, a new poll shows, but his lead continues to shrink with the election two days away.

Booker leads Steve Lonegan by 10 points, 52 percent to 42 percent, among likely voters in a poll out Monday from Monmouth University.


A separate poll last week had Booker up by 12, two weeks ago Monmouth had him up by 13 and over the summer by 16. In August, polls had Booker’s lead topping 24 percent.

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Though a number of polls in recent weeks have found Booker at around a 12-point lead, another poll out Monday had him up by significantly more. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll found likely voters preferred Booker 58 percent to 36 percent.

Quinnipiac University’s final poll in the race released Tuesday found Booker up by 14 points, 54 percent to 40 percent. That’s consistent with Quinnipiac’s polling a week ago, which found Booker up 53 percent to 41 percent.

The Monmouth poll also found Booker’s favorability has dropped since this summer. While voters still view him favorably, 51 percent to 30 percent, that’s down from 61 percent to 15 percent in June.

Voters view Lonegan favorably 38 percent to 35 percent, also narrower than June, when he registered a 34 percent to 20 percent favorability margin.

Booker’s national profile may be a disadvantage in the race, according to the poll. Forty-eight percent said Booker is running for Senate more to be on the national stage, while 37 percent said he was running to serve New Jersey. Seven percent said he’s doing both.

The special election to replace late Sen. Frank Lautenberg is Wednesday.

Monmouth surveyed 1,393 likely New Jersey voters from Oct. 10 to 12 for the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percent. Rutgers surveyed 513 likely voters from Oct. 7 to 13 for its poll, which has an error margin of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points. Quinnipiac surveyed 1,696 likely New Jersey voters from Oct. 10 to 14 for its poll, which has an error margin of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.