AP - After months of focusing on ethics and Bush administration policies, New Jersey's two U.S. Senate hopefuls faced a podium-to-podium debate on Saturday.
N.J. Senate hopefuls face off in debate
By ANGELA DELLI SANTI, Associated Press Writer
21 minutes ago
After months of focusing on ethics and Bush administration policies, New Jersey's two U.S. Senate hopefuls faced a podium-to-podium debate on Saturday.
Sen. Robert Menendez and state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. hadn't squared off face-to-face since they met twice over two days in June, long before many voters were paying attention to the race.
Since then, their contest has evolved into a close, contentious campaign for a full six-year term. Democrat Menendez was appointed to fill the Senate seat for a year by its former occupant, Gov. Jon S. Corzine.
Kean, the son of former Gov. Tom Kean Sr., hopes to be New Jersey's first Republican senator in 30 years.
A Fairleigh Dickinson-Public Mind survey out Thursday showed Menendez with a slight edge. There are more Democrats than Republicans in New Jersey, but independent voters far outnumber those registered with either party.
Menendez has sought from the beginning to link Kean to the unpopular policies of the Bush administration, most notably the war in Iraq.
Kean has made ethics the centerpiece of his campaign, and has tried to tie Menendez to the Democratic machine politics of rough-and-tumble Hudson County.
Menendez had raised $7.39 million for his campaign, according to the latest filings, while Kean had $2.25 million.
The candidates also have agreed to a second fall debate, on Oct. 17.
10-07-2006, 12:10 PM
