A shocking survey highlights a heat wave in the Menendez-Hugin Senate race

Democratic Senator Bob Menendez is deadlocked with Republican challenger Bob Hugin, according to a Stockton poll released Monday, as the public's negative perception of the senator's recent corruption case weighs on his support.

The poll of 531 potential voters shows that Menendez supports with 45% the 43% of Hugin, a difference much lower than the margin of error of the survey by plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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Menendez, who survived a six-week corruption trial at the end of last year when the jury was deadlocked, would normally rush for re-election given President Donald Trump's unpopularity in New Jersey . New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the US Senate since 1972.

But Hugin, a recently retired pharmaceutical executive with a large personal fortune, has poured millions of dollars out of his own pocket into the race. He spent much of the summer airing television commercials attacking Menendez on his ethical record, as well as on the serious reprimands of the Senate Ethics Committee.

Menendez has recently begun to respond to Hugin with its own commercials, pursuing Celgene's lead Hugin record, which has raised prices for its cost-effective anti-cancer drugs, and has spent $ 280 million with the federal government for fraud prosecution.

About 59 percent of voters believe the corruption charges against Menendez are an "extremely important" or "important" factor in their vote, according to the survey. But 51% of respondents say the same thing about how Hugin took advantage of his company's anti-cancer drug.

Menendez is considered favorably by only 30% of voters and unfavorably by 54%. Hugin, on the other hand, is favorably favored by 34% and unfavorably by 21%, but a plurality of people – 43% – do not know him.

The poll shows that Trump remains unpopular in New Jersey, with 50 percent of voters saying his work is "poor" and 14 percent "correct." Only 22% of respondents believe that his work is "excellent". "good."

Voters give Democratic Governor Phil Murphy a mediocre rating, with 11% saying they do a great job, 30% good, 27% fair and 25% poor.

The last Senate-wide public ballot on the Senate race, led by Quinnipiac University, showed Menendez leading Hugin by 6 points. In the current poll, Libertarian Murray Sabrin gets 3% support, while several other independent candidates in the race get a combined total of 8%.