Hugin funded far-right candidates and causes, Menendez camp says

Bob Menendez’s campaign is punching back at his GOP opponent, saying that Bob Hugin’s new TV ad is trying to rebrand a longtime supporter of conservative candidates like Donald Trump to appeal to New Jersey’s Independent and Democratic majority.

In his ad, filmed at his primary victory celebration last week, Hugin says, “I am pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, and strongly support equal pay for equal work.”

The Menendez campaign say that Hugin, the former pharmaceutical company CEO that is self-funding his U.S. Senate campaign, saying that his “cute 30-second ad (was) paid for by cancer victims.”

“Greedy drug company CEO Bob Hugin has spent millions supporting some of the most extreme Republicans—from Jesse Helms to Mitch McConnell to the Republican parties of Arkansas and South Carolina; let’s not forget the quarter-of-a-million to help elect Donald Trump,” said Michael Soliman, the Menendez campaign chairman. “These are people who vote down the line with the NRA, oppose Planned Parenthood and deny basic ideas of social justice.  That’s who Bob Hugin is, and no ad is going to change that despicable record.”

Hugin has contributed $2.1 million to Republican candidates, political action committees, and conservative groups, according to the Menendez campaign, including $250,000 to help elect Trump in 2016.  The campaign cited a $500,000 contribution by the Hugin Family Foundation to the Heritage Foundation, and personal contributions to House Speaker Paul Ryan and former Rep. Scott Garrett.