Menendez has 15-point lead, Quinnipiac poll says

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez has opened up a 15-point lead over Republican Bob Hugin and now leads 55%-40% in the race for the U.S. Senate in the final Quinnipiac University poll of the 2018 campaign.

Just 6% of likely voters say they might change their mind before polls open at 6 AM tomorrow.

Quinnipiac had Menendez ahead by seven points, 51%-44% on October 17.  In October 3, it was an 11-point race, 52%-42%.

Menendez was up 12-points, 51-39% in a Stockton University poll released last Friday.

Independent voters have broken to Menendez, a Democrat who has faced an onslaught of negative TV ads from Hugin, a pharmaceutical company CEO who has spent $35 million of his own money in his bid for the Senate.

Independents now back Menendez by 53%-39% margin.   In an October 17 poll, Hugin had a 51%-44% lead among independent voters.

Menendez has a 20-point lead among women, 58%-38%, and leads among men by a 51%-44% margin.

Among non-white voters, Menendez is ahead by a massive 71%-19% margin.

“While they may hold their nose to cast a ballot for Sen. Bob Menendez, voters signal they want to keep New Jersey’s Senate seat in the ‘D’ column in a blue state where President Donald Trump consistently remains unpopular,” said Mary Snow, polling analyst for the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Menendez has also brought Democrats — there are 921,000 more of them than Republicans in New Jersey — home.  He has an 89%-8% lead among voters of his own party.

Hugin has virtually no Republican defections — he’s ahead 95%-4% among members of his own party — despite taking a pro-choice stand and distancing himself from Trump.

From October 29 – November 4, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,115 New Jersey likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 4%.

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