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Poll: Anger over state budget boosts Kean in Senate race (Kean 42%; Menendez 38%)
Ft.Wayne.com ^ | 4/6/06

Posted on 04/06/2006 8:36:17 PM PDT by LdSentinal

TRENTON, N.J. - Republican Tom Kean Jr. can thank New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's unpopular budget proposals for his slight edge over Democrat Robert Menendez in the 2006 U.S. Senate race, according to a poll released Thursday.

A Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll gives Kean Jr., a state senator, a 42-38 percent lead over Menendez, who was appointed by Corzine to serve out the remaining year of his U.S. Senate term.

Last month, Menendez led Kean by five points in a PublicMind poll, 42-37 percent.

Poll director Peter Woolley said that right now voters' preferences for the candidates are being driven by news events.

"Last month, Sen. Menendez got wide and positive exposure for his opposition to the Dubai Ports World taking over the facility in Newark," Woolley said. "This month, Tom Kean has the opportunity to respond to the governor's unpopular budget proposals affecting taxes and spending."

In a PublicMind poll released Tuesday, 36 percent of voters disapproved of Corzine's job performance, compared to 16 percent in a poll taken March 8.

The record $30.9 billion budget Corzine proposed on March 21 includes provisions for increasing and expanding the sales tax, raising taxes on cigarettes and liquor, cutting funding to higher education, and funding schools and towns at last year's levels, likely prompting local property tax hikes.

Democratic strategist Rick Thigpen said Thursday's poll suggests that Menendez is "being punished by certain segments of the electorate for the governor's proposed budget."

Republican strategist Mark Campbell said Corzine's budget, in which he broke several campaign promises, sent a message to voters that New Jersey Democrats don't keep their word.

"As property taxes in New Jersey are going up, Bob Menendez is going down," Campbell said.

The poll released Thursday also indicated that Kean Jr.'s name recognition has increased, up by 10 points to 72 percent, compared to 62 percent last month. Kean Jr. is the son of former Republican Gov. Thomas Kean.

Menendez's name recognition remained even at 63 percent.

The poll of 685 registered voters was conducted by telephone from March 27 to April 2 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: 2006; budget; corzine; election; kean; newjersey; poll; senate; survey; taxes; taxhike; tomkeanjr
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To: MikefromOhio
"I think we'd both agree Ohio isn't either of those. Remember that status thing goes both ways and most of the OH GOP will see that a loss to the Dems would be a blow to their status as well."

You're right, OH isn't IL or NJ. But sometimes the GOP establishment will prefer the 'Rats to win IF it means that they do not meddle in their internal party control. The question is whether Blackwell is perceived as so much of a threat that they'd risk a Strickland Administration to preserve establishment control. If Petro somehow were to get the nod, and he IS a Taftite establishmentite, we know he will go down to flaming defeat in November.

61 posted on 04/10/2006 7:21:21 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Cheney X -- Destroying the Liberal Democrat Traitors By Any Means Necessary -- Ya Dig ? Sho 'Nuff.)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

I don't know....

Some of them seem to take having that R by their name quite seriously....

I know one of the GOP leaders in Licking County. He's firmly in the Petro camp but says that if Blackwell wins he's throwing everything he has into that camp. And from what he said he doesn't expect to be alone.


62 posted on 04/10/2006 7:25:02 PM PDT by MikefromOhio (aka MikeinIraq)
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To: MikefromOhio

Let us hope that is the case.


63 posted on 04/10/2006 7:58:54 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Cheney X -- Destroying the Liberal Democrat Traitors By Any Means Necessary -- Ya Dig ? Sho 'Nuff.)
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