Under indictment on multiple corruption charges, 75% of New Jersey voters believe U.S. Senator Bob Menendez is probably guilty, a new Monmouth University Poll shows.
Nearly two-thirds of New Jerseyans (63%) say Menendez should resign his Senate seat now, while 33% think he should be permitted to wait until a jury determines his fate in a federal bribery and conspiracy trial set to begin in May. Just 5% of the state says he’s probably not guilty.
Menendez has upside-down job approval ratings of 16%-74%.
“Perhaps the stash of gold bars is a little too much to stomach. Or maybe it’s simply one corruption trial too many,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “In any event, New Jerseyans say they have had enough, and it’s time for Menendez to go.”
None of these numbers present any path for Menendez to hold his Senate seat beyond the expiration of his current term on January 3, 2025. Still, Menendez has not yet announced if he will seek re-election to a fourth term.
Menendez’s job approvals have cratered since the Justice Department unsealed its indictment on September 22. An August 2023 Monmouth Poll put Menendez at 36%-45%.
Menendez’s numbers among Democratic voters are extraordinarily low: 74% think he’s guilty, 59% want him to resign, and 65% disapprove of his job performance in the United States Senate. His numbers are worst in North Jersey, where he began his political career nearly fifty years ago as a successful candidate for the Union City Board of Education.
“Throughout his prior legal ordeal, Menendez could at least count on the backing of most of his fellow Democrats,” Murray said. “That support has now cratered and is unlikely to recover since the charges keep piling up.”
The bigger question is how Menendez’s perception among New Jersey Democrats will affect his son, Rep. Robert J. Menendez (D-Jersey City). Congressman Menendez is seeking re-election to a second term and faces a well-financed primary opponent, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla.
New Jerseyans had given Menendez the benefit of the doubt the last time he was indicted: a 2015 Monmouth Poll showed that 47% of the state thought he was probably guilty, and 28% felt he should resign.
Nearly nine in ten New Jersey voters know the allegations against Menendez: 54% say they know a lot, and 35% say they know a little; just 11% of the state hasn’t heard about the charges against the senior U.S. Senator.
Among independents, Menendez has job approvals of 13%-77%, with 73% saying he’s probably guilty and 61% supporting his immediate resignation.
The Monmouth University poll was conducted from February 29 to March 4 before additional criminal charges were announced against Menendez. The poll had a sample size of 757 registered voters and a margin of error of +/- 4.3%.