New Jersey voters are rejecting the state’s “party boss” system, according to a poll released Friday, which showed Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) leading the state’s first lady Tammy Murphy for Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-NJ) Senate seat.
The poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University is the first independent survey on the Senate seat, which showed Kim securing 32% of the vote, Murphy with 20%, Menendez with 9%, and labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina with 8%. Menendez has not said whether he intends to run for reelection. The poll asked 504 likely voters.
“Generally, institutional support is enough to win a primary in New Jersey,” poll director Dan Cassino said in a statement. “With Murphy down, this election is a test of whether county organizations still have the power to choose a candidate.”
The poll comes after Menendez was indicted on federal bribery charges and acting as a foreign agent to benefit the Egyptian government. Menendez and his wife, Nadine, were charged with bribery for allegedly accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in exchange for using the Democratic senator’s influence to enrich three New Jersey businessmen and aid the foreign government.
Kim’s support largely comes from a progressive base that is tired of the mainstream Democratic Party that has largely controlled the state’s politics. Kim has also secured the support of many Asian and white voters, while Murphy sees support from black and Hispanic voters.
“The real fight here is between white liberals, who are largely backing Kim, and more moderate Black and Hispanic voters, who are lining up behind Murphy,” Cassino said. “Kim has always run as a centrist candidate, but these liberal voters dislike the county organizations enough that they’ve adopted him as one of their own.”
Respondents also tend to have a more favorable view of Kim, with 38% of the voters who have heard of him responding favorably and just 2% having an unfavorable view. When it comes to Murphy, 29% have a favorable opinion of her and 14% view her unfavorably, but she also has a higher name recognition.
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Menendez has the highest name recognition but saw the lowest support. Just 22% of respondents approved of Menendez, and 68% disapproved.
The poll was conducted from Jan. 21-28 and has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
