Posted on 05/11/2012 4:22:05 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) comfortably leads his Republican opponent, Joe Kyrillos, in a head-to-head matchup up by nine percentage points, according to the latest poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind™. Although a quarter of New Jerseyans (24%) say they’re undecided, four-in-ten (42%) say they’d support Menendez if the election were held today, while a third (33%) would vote for Kyrillos.
However, support for Menendez does not run deep. The poll also asked New Jerseyans if they’d support Menendez or “someone else,” and among these voters support for the senator drops off considerably to 30% from 42%, and the hypothetical “someone else” wins, garnering 37% for him or herself.
In fact, faced with the choice of Menendez and Kyrillos, 74% of Democrats choose the Hudson County Democrat. But offered the choice of Menendez or “someone else,” just half of Democrats (50%) choose the incumbent senator. Another group uncommitted to the candidates is the all-important independents. Among independents, support for Menendez drops by 20 points when the question offers “someone else” as the opponent rather than the Republican state senator Kyrillos (to 17% from 37%). “Menendez is not a name brand in New Jersey, even among Democrats,” said poll director Peter Woolley. “He has spent considerable time raising money for his colleagues in the US Senate, but he has kept a relatively low profile in New Jersey.”
More than one-in-five voters (22%) and one-in-five Democrats (22%) say they haven’t heard of Menendez. Among all voters, 32% have a favorable view of Menendez, 24% have an unfavorable view.
Meanwhile, Kyrillos is a veritable blank slate to the vast majority of New Jerseyans. Two-thirds (68%) say they’ve never heard of him, and few express any opinion when asked if they have a favorable (10%) or unfavorable view (6%) of him.
(Excerpt) Read more at publicmind.fdu.edu ...
Bob Menendez has surprsingly low numbers, given how long he’s held statewide office and been a fixture in New Jersey politics.
Whew, that’s a relief. I thought Christie was endorsing Menendez.
LOL! He’s not flabby, he’s just big-boned. : )
Good news if he can work it.
If one in five voters have never heard of Menendez — who has been around for years, then no wonder no one knows Kyrillos. who has mostly been in the background of politics.
Well, not in the background, but Menenzez is often in the papers and he is not unknown to TV audiences — especially during the Elian Gonzalez horror.
Flabby support? They make bro-ziers for that.
a quarter of New Jerseyans (24%) say they’re undecided,
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Not good news for Menendez. 80% of Undecideds always go for the challenger. If these numbers hold up..... hasta la vista baby.
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