Poll Shows Sen. Menendez's Voter Support Eroding, Even Among Democrats
By John McDevitt
WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBS) -- A new poll of New Jersey voters finds that more than half think US senator Robert Menendez, now facing corruption charges, should resign from office.
And the latest Quinnipiac University poll indicates the same opinion holds true among nearly half of his fellow Democrats.
According to the poll, 52 percent of registered New Jersey voters think Menendez should leave office, versus 39 percent who think not.
Among various party registrations, 61 percent of Republicans say he should step down (versus 32 percent who think he shouldn't), and 51 percent of independents think he should go (versus 40 percent not). Among Democrats, the division is 46 to 44 percent; the rest are undecided.
On the question on Menendez's honesty, 54 percent think the senator is, and 23 percent think he isn't. Among Democrats, the breakdown is 43 and 34 percent.
Menendez currently faces federal bribery and wire fraud charges.
In the poll, 45 percent of voters (including 39 percent of Democrats) think he did something "illegal," while 38 percent of voters (including 43 percent of Democrats) think he did "something unethical but nothing illegal." Eight percent think he did not do anything "seriously wrong," and nine percent were undecided.
The survey was conducted among 1,428 New Jersey voters from April 9th to 14th, the week after Menendez pleaded not guilty to corruption charges, and has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.
