Poll: Menendez has 17-point lead over GOP challenger

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) has a 17-point lead over his Republican challenger, Bob Hugin, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. 

Forty-nine percent of New Jersey voters backed Menendez in the poll, while 32 percent voiced their support for Hugin. 

Republicans overwhelmingly expressed support for Hugin, with 81 percent saying they backed him. 

Eight-five percent of Democrats, meanwhile, said they would vote for Menendez. 

Thirty-eight percent of voters also said they believed the senator, who was tried last year on corruption charges, was involved in “serious wrongdoing,” while 20 percent said they did not believe he was.

Thirty-seven percent said they have not heard enough information to decide.  

A mistrial was declared after the jury in the Menendez case announced that it was deadlocked. 

The Department of Justice in January filed to dismiss the remaining charges against the senator, bringing the case to an end. 

The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted on March 8 – 12, among 1,052 New Jersey voters. The poll’s margin of error is 4 percentage points.