Menendez is in the final stretch in the fight of his political life. Murphy and Booker are helping. In the final stretch of the fight of his...
In the final stretch of the fight of his political life, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez is is getting a boost from some of New Jersey's other high-profile political figures.
Gov. Phil Murphy and his wife, First Lady Tammy Murphy, are expected to visit all 21 of the state's counties before Election Day on Nov. 6 -- next Tuesday -- to make campaign appearances for fellow Democrats running in closely watched midterm elections.
That included multiple stops Sunday for Menendez, who's facing a tough challenge from Republican Bob Hugin as he vies for a third term in the Senate.
"This election is the most important in memory, and we absolutely cannot afford to sit on the sidelines," Murphy said in a statement, referencing how Democrats across the nation are trying to wrest control of Congress away from a Republican Party led by President Donald Trump.
New Jersey's other Democratic senator, Cory Booker -- a potential presidential candidate in 2020-- has also hit the campaign trail for Menendez this week.
And on Monday, Menendez stood alongside both Murphy and Booker for a news conference in Union Beach to mark the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy slamming into New Jersey's coast.
Though it may have been a government event, it was as much a pep rally for Menendez as an announcement on how to help families still struggling to rebuild get back into their homes all these years later.
"I don't know where we'd be without Sen. Bob Menendez," Murphy said near the top of his remarks inside a Union Beach fire station. "Everyone has to understand the centrality of the role that he played (in getting federal disaster relief funding)."
Menendez, Hugin answer some personal questions
Murphy isn't just focusing on Menendez as he tours the state this week. He's also stumping for the Democrats running in New Jersey's 12 U.S. House races.
Still, the Menendez race is getting the most attention.
The senator would normally cruise to re-election in Democrat-heavy New Jersey. The state hasn't elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972. And Democrats are bolstered by Trump's unpopularity here.
But Hugin, a retired pharmaceutical executive, has pumped more than $30 million of his own money into the race -- mostly on negative ads focusing on how Menendez was put on trial last year on federal corruption charges. Menendez escaped via a hung jury, and the U.S. Justice Department dropped the charges, though he was "severely admonished" by the Senate.
While he hasn't trailed in any public opinion poll, surveys show Menendez leading by only single digits. And the Cook Political Report is now calling the race a "tossup," though FiveThirtyEight says it's not.
Senate Democrats' super political action committee, Senate Majority PAC, announced last week it was pouring another $2.8 million into the race to help Menendez -- on top of the $3 million it has already spent.
A Menendez loss could be detrimental to the Democratic Party's already-slim hopes of taking back the Senate and hurt the party's broader effort to fight Trump.
Murphy, a rookie governor with approval ratings in the 50s, spent all of Sunday stumping for Menendez, culminating in an appearance at a rally in Jersey City.
Then, in Union Beach on Monday, Booker joined in the Menendez lovefest.
"I'm telling you right now: I wished every New Jersey resident knew what I knew, could see what I see, day in, day out," Booker said at the Sandy anniversary event. "I have seen this man work, sweat and fight."
"I have seen him love this state in a way that would inspire every New Jerseyan," he added. "This is who Bob Menendez is: He lives and dies for this state. His heart breaks for this state. He gets up to struggle for this state."
"We need Bob Menendez," Booker concluded.
U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-6th Dist., was also at the event, exclaiming that New Jersey needs a lawmaker like Menendez in Washington because "programs at the federal level" like the federal aid relief that helped New Jersey recover from Sandy "don't work unless somebody (like Menendez) is watching."
Booker and Pallone joined Menendez at campaign events later Monday. And Booker is scheduled to be back on the trail with Menendez on Tuesday evening at a rally in East Orange. Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver will be on hand, as well.
Menendez will appear earlier in the day with Murphy at another government event, this one focused on the Affordable Care Act, at the War Memorial in Trenton.
Hugin spokesman Nick Iacovella called it a "disgrace" that Menendez and his fellow top Democrats on Monday "had to exploit Hurricane Sandy victims in a shameful attempt to try and distract voters from the fact that Bob Menendez is a morally bankrupt, corrupt politician."
"But we should expect nothing less from a New Jersey Democratic establishment that continues to put their own partisan politics ahead of the people of New Jersey in hopes that voters will 'choke it down' and vote for a crook like Menendez," Iacovella added.
Meanwhile, Hugin -- who has never before run for elected office -- received the endorsement Monday from La Alianza Civica Ministerial, a Passaic County alliance of Hispanic ministers.
It came as Hugin held a roundtable discussing issues affecting New Jersey's Hispanic communities.
"Today's discussion reaffirmed that the best way to serve the people of New Jersey is by bringing people together to work constructively to solve problems," Hugin said in a statement. "New Jersey needs an independent leader who brings people from both sides of the aisle together to deliver solutions for the people of New Jersey.
Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.
Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.
Source: Google News | Netizen 24 United States
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