ICYMI: AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISTS WEIGH IN ON NEW JERSEY SENATE RACE

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ — In case you missed it, national commentary writers, like award-winning columnist George Will, continue to highlight the New Jersey U.S. Senate race between Marine veteran and job creator Bob Hugin and corrupt, career politician Bob Menendez. Public polling shows the race is in a dead heat and Bob Menendez’s attacks continue to get more desperate. What’s clear is that Bob Hugin’s message is resonating and New Jersey voters are ready for change.

• “Robert Hugin, 63, grew up in blue-collar Union City, as did Menendez, with whom Hugin served as student representatives to the local board of education. Hugin became the first in his family to graduate from college (Princeton University ), served 14 years in the Marine Corps (his two sons are now officers), then went into business, rising to run a pharmaceutical company. This sin, although scarlet in the overheated public mind, might be less so than Menendez’s transgressions detailed in the letter.” (George F. Will, Washington Post, Opinion: Menendez was meant to be safe. Is this how New Jersey’s 46-year drought ends?, 7/20/18)

• “Five Democratic incumbents are running in states that 21 months ago experienced Donald Trump swoons: He won Missouri by 18.6 points, Indiana by 19.2, Montana by 20.4, North Dakota by 35.7, West Virginia by 42.1. In New Jersey, which Hillary Clinton carried by 14.1 points, Menendez was supposed to be safe.” (George F. Will, Washington Post, Opinion: Menendez was meant to be safe. Is this how New Jersey’s 46-year drought ends?, 7/20/18)

• “The incumbent, Sen. Bob Menendez, is a Goliath in New Jersey’s blue-state politics…For a chance at victory, he needs to keep the attention focused squarely on one question: Isn’t New Jersey embarrassed by Mr. Menendez?” (Gerard Gayou, Wall Street Journal, Is New Jersey Finally Fed Up With Bob Menendez?, 07/19/2018)

• “Dr. Melgen is currently serving a 17-year sentence for Medicare fraud. But the charges against Mr. Menendez didn’t stick. After a 2½-month trial ended in a hung jury last fall, prosecutors dropped the case. The ordeal, however, drew a harsh bipartisan rebuke of Mr. Menendez from the Senate Ethics Committee. Now, Mr. Hugin suggests, it’s the voters’ turn. ‘My wife and I were both morally offended that my opponent would be re-elected without a real opposition for all the things he has done,’ he says. ‘Lobbying for a guy who is defrauding Medicare at the same time? That’s his best friend, who is convicted of 67 felonies, treating people inappropriately. . . . All the stuff you read is just horrific.” (Gerard Gayou, Wall Street Journal, Is New Jersey Finally Fed Up With Bob Menendez?, 07/19/2018)

• “In 2015 the Justice Department indicted Mr. Menendez on 14 corruption charges, including bribery, conspiracy and honest-services fraud. He was accused of doing favors for a Florida ophthalmologist, Salomon Melgen, in return for gifts such as private jet flights and a Paris vacation, along with $750,000 in political donations. The senator assisted Dr. Melgen with an $8.9 million Medicare billing dispute, going so far as to intervene on his behalf with the secretary of health and human services. Prosecutors also said Mr. Menendez had helped three of Dr. Melgen’s girlfriends get visas to the U.S.” (Gerard Gayou, Wall Street Journal, Is New Jersey Finally Fed Up With Bob Menendez?, 07/19/2018)