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Sen. Bob Menendez.
- Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat whose federal corruption charges were dropped in January, is facing an increasingly uphill battle for reelection.
- On Friday, the non-partisan Cook Political Report moved the blue state Senate race from "lean Democratic" to "toss up."
- Most political observers believe the senator's ethics scandal is to blame in a race that should be an easy win for Democrats.
Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat whose federal corruption charges were dropped in January, is facing an increasingly uphill battle for reelection.
On Friday, the non-partisan Cook Political Report moved the blue state Senate race from "lean Democratic" to a "toss up," a bad sign for Menendez just 11 days out from Election Day. Most political observers believe the senator's ethics scandal is to blame for the increasingly competitive nature of a race that should be an easy win for Democrats in a state that has 900,000 more registered Democratic voters than Republican.
"The contest isn't about anything else but Democratic US Sen. Bob Menendez and his ethics problems," Cook's Jennifer Duffy wrote on Friday.
While Menendez, 64, has managed to rally support from his Senate colleagues, he faced an unexpectedly strong primary challenge from an unknown candidate with barely any money - a sign of New Jerseyans' disapproval. Since the DOJ dropped the corruption charges against him following last year's mistrial, the lawmaker has maintained some of the lowest approval ratings of any senator in the country.
Menendez's opponent, Republican pharmaceutical CEO Bob Hugin, has far outspent him - $27.7 million to $11.8 million - but the Democratic Party has poured almost $6.5 million in the race in recent days, Cook reported. (Hugin has faced his own ethics issues after the company he used to lead settled a $280 million lawsuit last month over charges that it falsely advertised a cancer medication.)
For months, Democrats have held out hope that they can flip both the House and Senate, but this race and a handful of vulnerable Democrats in deeply red states makes that possibility appear unlikely.
And Democrats have uphill battles in red states where they hope to pick up seats, including Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Tennessee.