Washington, DC Democrats have been posturing over potential big gains come November. However, a look at the New Jersey Senate race between challenger Tom Kean (R), who recently launched a website, and Senator Bob Menendez (D), suggests the DNC may need to be looking over its shoulder, too.
Despite documented ties to the corrupt New Jersey political machine which insiders believe contributed more to the downfall of former NJ Gov. James McGreevey than his sexual preference, appointed U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez was given a leg up when appointed by increasingly unpopular NJ Gov. Jon Corzine to take his place in the Senate.
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez received at least $159,000 since 1997 from Kushner, his real estate partners and their relatives. He donated just $6,000 of that -- the amount the FEC said had been given illegally -- to charity after the developer's conviction.
Kushner Cos. has been Menendez's biggest donor in the past five years. The firm is also developing a $600 million, 49-acre project on the Perth Amboy waterfront, which is in the House district Menendez represented before being appointed to the Senate in January.
Since his election, Corzine has been raising taxes and cutting services, while fending off the remnants of scandal himself.
TRENTON - Gov. Corzine plans to write off the $5,000 bail he posted for a Trenton lobbyist who was arrested in February on charges she was stalking the state's Democratic chairman.
The multimillionaire governor has characterized the late-night loan to former campaign staffer Karen Golding, 36, in the first weeks of his administration as "a mistake."
But Corzine "no longer expects to be repaid" after his private attorney's efforts to collect the money failed, chief counsel Stuart Rabner said yesterday. Rabner stressed the loan was never intended to be a gift.
The status of the loan came to light in Corzine's state financial disclosure statement, which was made public yesterday. The forms, which are more detailed than those in previous years, are expected to be available at the Web site sometime today.
A Strategic Vision Poll conducted May 12 - 14 has them running dead even at 35%.
As a quick aside, that particular poll also shows that 60% of NJ Republicans don't see President Bush as a conservative in the "mode of Ronald Reagan". Despite being a Blue State, Reagan garnered 52% of the NJ vote in 1980 and 60% in 1984. Bush has failed to win NJ in both of his national campaigns.
A look at Menendez's recent voting record might not do him much good in the eyes of today's immigration sensitive electorate.
Menendez - No - Cornyn Amdt. No. 4038; To require aliens seeking adjustment of status under section 245B of the Immigration and Nationality Act or Deferred Mandatory Departure status under section 245C of such Act to pay a supplemental application fee, which shall be used to provide financial assistance to States for health and educational services for noncitizens.
Menendez - Yes - Clinton Amdt. No. 4072; To establish a grant program to provide financial assistance to States and local governments for the costs of providing health care and educational services to noncitizens, and to provide additional funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.
Menendez - No - Inhofe Amdt. No. 4064; To amend title 4 United States Code, to declare English as the national language of the United States and to promote the patriotic integration of prospective US citizens.
Menendez - Yes - Motion to Table Ensign Amdt. No. 3985; To reduce document fraud, prevent identity theft, and preserve the integrity of the Social Security system, by ensuring that persons who receive an adjustment of status under this bill are not able to receive Social Security benefits as a result of unlawful activity.
Menendez - No - Sessions Amdt. No. 3979; To increase the amount of fencing and improve vehicle barriers installed along the southwest border of the United States.
Kean is taking a hard line on immigration issues in his campaign, as evidenced by this story from his website. If immigration issues end up to playing a major role in the NJ Senate race, Menendez and a DNC pondering control of the Senate may still have a long way to go.
Tom Kean Jr., the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, came to Jersey City's Liberty State Park yesterday to lay out his position on immigration reform.
Standing behind the Statue of Liberty, the state senator from Westfield and son of the former governor said he opposes granting amnesty to the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country.
He said his position on the controversial issue most closely follows the bill backed by the U.S. House of Representatives, which would make it a felony to aid illegal aliens. The House bill sparked massive nationwide protests last month.
Kean said he opposes other solutions, such as the bill proposed in the U.S. Senate that would allow some illegal immigrants to achieve legal status if they pay back taxes. His opponent in the November election, U.S. Sen.Kean said he wants "a hard fence, smart fence, more border control agents, more detention centers. Bob Menendez voted against those things."
Menendez yesterday voted against a U.S. Senate bill to construct 370 miles of fencing along the Mexican border, but it passed, 83 to 16.
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