HUGIN “TAILOR MADE” CANDIDATE TO WIN NEW JERSEY

“TAILOR-MADE” HUGIN TO FACE MENENDEZ | “(Lisa) McCormick ended up getting about 38 percent of the vote and carrying  four counties against the incumbent. She did this despite having a campaign fund that was nearly nonexistent. If McCormick had had some money, she might have defeated him. Her positions came right out of the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party, positions well-suited to winning a Democratic primary this year…The New Jersey Democrats usually win Senate races by comfortable margins. But with a wounded Menendez on the ballot this November, the margin promises to be a lot less comfortable. Meanwhile the Republicans have a candidate who appears to be tailor-made to run against Menendez. Hugin an ex-Marine.” (Paul Mulshine, Star-Ledger, Is Bob Menendez set up for a fall this fall?, 06/06/18)

FORMER MARINE FACES WOUNDED MENENDEZ IN NEW JERSEY |“(Lisa) McCormick ended up getting about 38 percent of the vote and carrying  four counties against the incumbent. She did this despite having a campaign fund that was nearly nonexistent. That was a big break for Menendez. If McCormick had had some money, she might have defeated him. Her positions came right out of the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party, positions well-suited to winning a Democratic primary this year…The New Jersey Democrats usually win Senate races by comfortable margins. But with a wounded Menendez on the ballot this November, the margin promises to be a lot less comfortable. Meanwhile the Republicans have a candidate who appears to be tailor-made to run against Menendez. Hugin an ex-Marine.” (Paul Mulshine, Star-Ledger, Is Bob Menendez set up for a fall this fall?, 06/06/18)

HUGIN POISED TO BE NEXT NEW JERSEY SENATOR | The U.S. Senate race in New Jersey has traditionally been a reliable Democratic victory. In fact, a GOP senator hasn’t been elected there since the early 1970s. But Republicans are hoping this year is different. A recent Farleigh Dickinson University poll shows political newcomer Hugin trailing Menendez by just 4 points, with 46 percent of voters undecided…Hugin called Menendez “the poster boy of abuse of the system.” He is highlighting Menendez’s federal corruption trial. A jury deadlocked on bribery charges before prosecutors ultimately declined to retry him. But afterward, the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee, in a rare move, “severely admonished” Menendez for his actions.(FOX5, GOP’s Hugin makes case to oust Menendez in New Jersey, 06/06/18)

CENTRIST HUGIN STRATEGY = A WINNING FORMULA | “Hugin appears to be running as a centrist Democrat ideologically while on the Republican ballot, thereby giving Democrats disgusted with Menendez’s personal conduct a viable alternative. Hugin’s strategy may prove to be a winning formula in a state Donald Trump lost by 13 points to Hillary Clinton and where the president’s job approval ratings are currently underwater by a significant margin. Should Hugin win the general election, Republicans will have the advantage of his vote for a Republican as Senate majority leader, but perhaps not much else in the way of the support for the president’s agenda.” (Breitbart, GOP Senate Nominee in New Jersey Reaches Out to Democrats, 06/08/18)

FRUSTRATED DEMOCRATS WELCOME IN HUGIN CAMP | Yet, despite  Menendez’s institutional advantages — running as Democrat amid an anti-Trump wave and a 900,000 advantage in Democratic Party registrations — Republicans believe McCormick surprise is only an early sample of the larger surprise to come this fall. “We absolutely want those frustrated Democrats to know that Bob Hugin will be an independent voice who puts New Jersey first, and we would welcome their support.” (Charlie Stile, NorthJersey, NJ elections 2018: Democrats downplay uneasy Bob Menendez win after corruption charge, 06/06/18)

SENATE REPUBLICANS BUOYED BY HUGIN | If Republicans’ chances of keeping the House look dimmer after Tuesday, their chances of keeping the Senate are somewhat buoyed… Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), once thought untouchable, may be vulnerable. After a jury deadlocked last year on his corruption trial, a no-name primary challenger who didn’t even file the right paperwork got nearly 40 percent of the vote Tuesday. (Amber Phillips, Washington Post, Answering the 5 biggest questions from Tuesday’sprimaries, 06/06/18)

VICTORY LAPS FOR HUGIN… NOT MENENDEZ | “This was supposed to be a week of victory laps for Bob Menendez. It’s not. Instead of cruising the state and bragging to his Democratic pals about his political resurrection, New Jersey’s senior U.S. senator finds himself stuck in a muddy past filled with charges of corruption and ethics violations. This story did not have to unfold this way. But the man squarely at fault here is Bob Menendez.” (Mike Kelly, NorthJersey, Kelly: It’s time for Bob Menendez to apologize for his unethical gift-taking, 06/07/18)

Bob Hugin, a Marine Corps Veteran and business leader who has created thousands of New Jersey jobs, is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to challenge incumbent Democrat Senator Bob Menendez.

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