[watchwoman]

I think Lautenberg won mostly due to simple name recognition. "The Poor Pathetic Residents" of NJ knew his name from somewhere, probably thought he was the incumbent.
Gotta love 'em - they're too busy fighting traffic and attending their union meetings to pay much attention to politics.

[peter the great]

You are correct about the name recognition of our canidate, however New Jersey is unique in the sense that the major media outlets serving our state are located in Philadelphia and New York. Also what was said in this article about running a Catholic is god advice.