PARSIPPANY – Bob Hugin was dressed like a guy starting the late shift – pullover shirt, jeans and sneakers – as he rallied Monday afternoon with workers and officials of IBEW Local 102 in a  damp parking garage.

The setting off Parsippany Road may have been less than ideal,  but Hugin, who was flanked by GOP lawmakers from three counties – Morris  Passaic and Sussex – did his best to excite about 150 to 200 people and also to ignore some troubling news.

A Quinnipiac University poll out Monday morning put Hugin 15 percentage points behind incumbent Bob Menendez. That followed a Stockton University poll a few days ago that had Menendez up by 12. Earlier polls had the race in single-digits.

Hugin is doing his best to downplay the latest sampling by Quinnipiac.

“It’s not credible,” he said to the scrum of reporters surrounding him after the rally. Hugin has been saying the last few days that internal polls have him up by 2 points, a claim he restated Monday.

Additionally, he falls back on the time-honored political cliche that the only poll that truly counts is the one that takes places Tuesday.

“The people are going to speak tomorrow,” he said. Hugin, who spent Sunday in Cape May and Atlantic counties, said he’s encouraged by the positive response he’s getting as he moves around the state.
Hugin’s speech broke little new ground as he condemned Menendez’  ethical lapses and talked about the need to rebuild the state’s infrastructure.

Referring to the often deteriorating condition of state roads, Hugin said to the crowd, “You deserve better than what you are getting.”

Just about no one disagrees with fixing the state’s infrastructure, but a problem for Hugin is that President Trump has been an obstacle to the state securing federal money for arguably its top priority, a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.

Hugin has been stressing his independence and promising to stand up to everybody,  the president included, if New Jersey interests are at stake. When it comes to the Gateway Tunnel, Hugin’s pledge to fight anyone may be tested immediately if he gets to the Senate.

Hugin again said he has no second thoughts about a TV ad that refers to unproven allegations Menendez had sex with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. It’s impossible to know what truly drives voters, but the recent polls suggest that ad may not be helping the Republican.