It’s a poll that will only make Democrats even more skittish about having an ailing Joe Biden on the top of the ticket.
The last time a Republican won New Jersey in a presidential election was in 1988 when George H.W. Bush secured the state’s electoral votes. Bush’s victory in New Jersey was part of a larger national win, continuing the Republican dominance of the 1980s following Ronald Reagan’s two-term presidency.
The last Republican senator from New Jersey was Clifford Case, who served until 1979.
That could all be about to change, according to The New Jersey Globe.
A poll out of the Garden State, conducted before the disastrous debate performance by Joe Biden on Thursday, could be the canary in the coal mine for Democrats across the country.
There’s a new poll in the New Jersey Senate race that puts Republican Curtis Bashaw in striking distance of winning a three-way contest against Democrat Andy Kim and independent Bob Menendez, the incumbent.
The poll has Kim leading Bashaw by six points, 39%-33%, with 3% for Menendez and 25% of likely New Jersey voters still undecided.
The poll was conducted by co/efficient, a newish, little-known independent survey firm in Kansas City with a one-star in 538’s pollster ratings. The pollster, Ryan Munce, appears to be Republican- leaning.
The same poll shows Donald Trump and Joe Biden in a statistical dead heat in New Jersey; Trump leads, 41%-40%, with 7% for independent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and other third-party contenders.
No wonder Democrats are considering dumping Biden.
Democrats in the state have been plagued with corruption for years. The sitting senator, Bob Menendez, a former powerful chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has been charged with taking bribes and authorities found several gold bars hidden in coats throughout his home that have been traced back to the Middle East.
Bashaw is a unique Republican, to say the least. He’s gay, pro-choice, and was not endorsed by Donald Trump, reports The Washington Examiner.
“Those qualities could lend him favor among voters in heavily blue New Jersey who are seeking an alternative to Democratic domination in the state’s U.S. Senate race. The seat went to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) by almost 10 percentage points in 2018.
But that’s not the only reason he could have a chance to become the first gay senator for the GOP. Menendez has now been shunned by his own party for alleged corruption, for which he and his wife are on trial. Menendez has filed to run as an independent, but between him and the Democratic candidate, Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), Republicans hope they’ll split the vote enough to give Bashaw a path to victory.
“Despite all of his legal problems, Menendez still has a base, and if he’s on the ballot, that base is going to come out for him,” Dan Cassino, a professor of government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and the director of the poll, said in a statement about the shocking poll.
Bashaw thinks this year will be the best chance Republicans will ever have to claim a Senate seat from New Jersey, and with his background, he might be the perfect man to do it.
Next the whole NE??