Poll has Menendez ahead by 9 points
2006-10-23
Source: Asbury Park Press
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rss feedDemocratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez appears to have opened a significant lead over Republican challenger Thomas H. Kean Jr. as voters focus more on the war in Iraq and the GOP's congressional scandals.
The latest Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll shows Menendez's lead at 9 percentage points. Nearly half of the likely voters, 48 percent, said they would vote for Menendez, while 39 percent said they would vote for Kean.
Menendez's voters are more committed to him, as 37 percent of likely voters said they were sure they would vote for Menendez, up 9 points since September. Less than 3 in 10 said they were sure they would vote for Kean, unchanged since September.
The results come a month after a Monmouth University poll showed Kean with a six-point lead.
Patrick Murray, the Monmouth University polling director, said that a month ago, state corruption issues weighed more heavily. The guilty plea by former Democratic political boss John A. Lynch Jr. and the new book by former Gov. James E. McGreevey had depressed results for Democrats.
But those problems now pale in comparison to the Iraq war and scandals in Congress, Murray said.
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