TEANECK, N.J., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A new poll gives incumbent Sen. Robert Menendez a slim lead in the battle to keep both New Jersey's Senate seats in Democratic Party hands.
The Fairleigh Dickinson Public Mind Poll puts Menendez ahead of Republican state Sen. Tom Kean, 42 percent to 37 percent, among likely voters. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
New Jersey, which has not sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate in more than three decades, is one of the few places where Republicans appear to have a chance of ousting an incumbent. Kean, son and namesake of a popular former governor, has wide name recognition in New Jersey while Democrats in the state have been tarnished by a series of scandals.
Dan Cassino, a political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, said Democrats are lining up behind their party, with Democratic support for Kean down to 10 percent from 19 percent in a previous poll.
"Kean's advantage in this race has always been the breadth of his name recognition," Cassino said. "Now that Menendez is finally getting Democrats behind him, Kean's support across the aisle is evaporating."
