Dem
51
GOP
49
Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) is apparently a shrewd fellow, as he seized on the opportunity presented by the ongoing legal troubles of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) while no other prominent Democrat did so. As a result, Kim has the "not corrupt" lane basically to himself as he tries to claim the Senate seat currently occupied by Menendez.
The fundraising takes of the two men should really tell Menendez that the writing is on the wall. In Q3, the Senator collected $919,000, with most of that likely coming before he was indicted for walking like an Egyptian. Meanwhile, Kim brought in $1.2 million, nearly all of it in the 3 weeks since Menendez was indicted. Because he's been a senator for the better part of two decades, Menendez still has more cash on hand—a bit north of $8 million. But he's not likely to be able to replenish that, since he's damaged goods. Though we suppose he could pawn the jeweled scarab and golden burial mask he got from... someone.
And on top of a likely cash crunch, the polls are grim for the Senator. The latest, from Public Policy Polling, says Menendez is down 22 points to a generic Republican while he's down 3 points to the not-so-popular Chris Christie. By contrast, Kim is up 12 on a generic Republican and up 26 on Christie. Menendez is also an unbelievable 66 points underwater on favorability (74% unfavorable, 8% favorable), and 91% of New Jerseyans have heard about his bribery issues. How does someone come back from that? The answer is: They don't. (Z)