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2018 United States Senate election in New Jersey
The 2018 United States Senate election in New Jersey took place on November 6, 2018, in order to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of New Jersey. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Menendez won election to a third term over Republican businessman Bob Hugin, after the former's criminal trial ended in a mistrial.
The candidate filing deadline for Democratic and Republican candidates was April 2, 2018, and the primary election was held on June 5, 2018. The deadline for independent candidates was June 5, 2018. Despite the race being rated as a tossup by some political pundits, including The Cook Political Report, Menendez was reelected by an 11.2% margin. However, Hugin was the first Republican Senate candidate to carry Atlantic and Gloucester counties since 1972, and the first Republican to do so in this seat since 1970.
Menendez was later convicted of separate federal corruption charges in 2024 and resigned from the Senate.
While he never lost support from any major New Jersey officials, after a mistrial was declared in Senator Menendez's corruption trial, party figures across New Jersey lined up with public endorsements of his reelection bid, including the "full support" of Governor Phil Murphy. He formally declared his intention to run for reelection on March 28, 2018, alongside Governor Murphy and Senator Cory Booker.
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Bob Menendez, incumbent U.S. senator
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Lisa McCormick, activist and candidate for Union County Clerk in 2010
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Michael Starr Hopkins, attorney
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Rush D. Holt Jr., former U.S. representative
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Donald Norcross, U.S. representative
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Mikie Sherrill, retired Navy helicopter pilot and former federal prosecutor (running for NJ-11)
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Robert Torricelli, former U.S. senator
Results by county Map legend .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Menendez—70–80% Menendez—60–70% Menendez—50–60% McCormick—50–60% McCormick—60–70%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 262,477 | 62.28% | |
| Democratic | 158,998 | 37.72% | |
| 421,475 | 100% |
Bob Hugin launched his primary campaign on February 13 in Springfield. He began advertising on television two weeks later, attacking Menendez on the airwaves, and was soon considered the presumptive nominee. His opponent, Brian Goldberg, attempted to connect himself to President Donald Trump and his supporters by inserting the president's abbreviated slogan, "MAGA", into his ballot slogans and aligning himself with other pro-Trump, anti-establishment candidates. Goldberg also attacked Hugin's running mates, urging Republicans to write in the deceased Charlton Heston in primary races where a Republican congressional candidate was running unopposed. Ultimately, Hugin won overwhelmingly with a majority of votes in each of the state's 21 counties.
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Bob Hugin, businessman and former executive chairman of Celgene Corporation
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Brian D. Goldberg, businessman and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014
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Rich Pezzullo, businessman (endorsed Bob Hugin, running for NJ-6)
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Hirsh Singh, aerospace engineer and candidate for governor in 2017 (running for NJ-2)
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Dana Wefer, former chairwoman of the Hoboken Housing Authority and candidate for governor in 2017 (did not submit enough petition signatures)
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Jon Bramnick, Minority Leader of the New Jersey General Assembly (endorsed Hugin)
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Jack Ciattarelli, former state assemblyman and candidate for governor in 2017
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Michael J. Doherty, state senator
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Kim Guadagno, former lieutenant governor and nominee for governor in 2017
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Thomas Kean Jr., Minority Leader of the New Jersey Senate and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2006
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Joe Kyrillos, former state senator and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012
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Tom MacArthur, U.S. representative (endorsed Hugin)
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Bill Spadea, radio and TV show host; nominee for NJ-12 in 2004
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Jerry Watson
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Jay Webber, state assemblyman and former chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee (running for NJ-11)
Results by county Map legend Hugin—80–90% Hugin—70–80% Hugin—60–70% Hugin—50–60%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | 168,052 | 75.13% | |
| Republican | 55,624 | 24.87% | |
| 223,676 | 100% |
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Murray Sabrin, Ramapo College finance professor, Anisfield School of Business
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Madelyn R. Hoffman, peace activist and 1997 Green Party gubernatorial candidate
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Tricia Flanagan (New Day NJ), consultant
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Kevin Kimple (Make it Simple), small business owner
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Natalie Rivera (For the People), social services coordinator
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Hank Schroeder (Economic Growth), perennial candidate
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Muhammad Usman
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Complete video of debate, October 24, 2018
| Campaign finance reports as of October 17, 2018 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Hugin (R) | $30,289,561 | $27,714,323 | $2,575,238 |
| Bob Menendez (D) | $11,631,183 | $11,225,693 | $1,832,385 |
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report | Tossup | October 26, 2018 |
| Inside Elections | Likely D | November 1, 2018 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Likely D | November 5, 2018 |
| CNN | Lean D | October 1, 2018 |
| RealClearPolitics | Lean D | October 3, 2018 |
| Fox News | Lean D | October 30, 2018 |
^Highest rating given
| Poll source | Date(s)administered | Samplesize | Marginof error | BobMenendez (D) | BobHugin (R) | MurraySabrin (L) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change Research | November 2–4, 2018 | 1,006 | – | 51% | 41% | – | – | – |
| Quinnipiac University | October 29 – November 4, 2018 | 1,115 | ± 4.0% | 55% | 40% | – | 1% | 4% |
| Stockton University | October 25–31, 2018 | 598 | ± 4.0% | 51% | 39% | 3% | 4% | 1% |
| Vox Populi Polling | October 27–29, 2018 | 814 | ± 3.4% | 54% | 46% | – | – | – |
| Emerson College | October 24–26, 2018 | 659 | ± 4.0% | 47% | 42% | – | 4% | 7% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton | October 12–19, 2018 | 496 LV | ± 5.1% | 51% | 46% | – | 1% | 2% |
| 896 RV | ± 3.8% | 48% | 45% | – | 1% | 5% | ||
| Quinnipiac University | October 10–16, 2018 | 873 | ± 4.3% | 51% | 44% | – | 0% | 5% |
| Monmouth University | October 11–15, 2018 | 527 | ± 4.3% | 49% | 40% | 1% | 2% | 8% |
| National Research Inc. (R-Hugin) | October 6–9, 2018 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 42% | 40% | – | – | – |
| YouGov | October 2–5, 2018 | 845 | – | 49% | 39% | – | 4% | 8% |
| Quinnipiac University | September 25 – October 2, 2018 | 1,058 | ± 4.1% | 53% | 42% | – | 0% | 5% |
| Vox Populi Polling | September 29 – October 1, 2018 | 794 | ± 3.5% | 52% | 48% | – | – | – |
| Fairleigh Dickinson University | September 26–30, 2018 | 508 LV | ± 4.3% | 43% | 37% | – | 1% | 19% |
| 746 RV | ± 3.9% | 37% | 32% | – | 1% | 29% | ||
| Stockton University | September 19–27, 2018 | 531 | ± 4.3% | 45% | 43% | 3% | 5% | 2% |
| Quinnipiac University | August 15–20, 2018 | 908 | ± 4.6% | 43% | 37% | – | 2% | 16% |
| Gravis Marketing (L-Sabrin) | August 14–15, 2018 | 753 | ± 3.6% | 40% | 30% | 7% | – | 22% |
| Gravis Marketing | July 6–10, 2018 | 563 | ± 4.1% | 43% | 41% | – | – | 16% |
| Fairleigh Dickinson University | May 16–21, 2018 | 856 | ± 3.5% | 28% | 24% | – | 1% | 46% |
| Monmouth University | April 6–10, 2018 | 632 | ± 3.9% | 53% | 32% | – | 7% | 7% |
| Quinnipiac University | March 8–12, 2018 | 1,052 | ± 4.2% | 49% | 32% | – | 1% | 15% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}±% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 1,711,654 | 54.01% | −4.86% | |
| Republican | 1,357,355 | 42.83% | +3.46% | |
| Green | 25,150 | 0.79% | +0.32% | |
| Libertarian | 21,212 | 0.67% | +0.17% | |
| Independent | 19,897 | 0.63% | N/A | |
| Independent | 16,101 | 0.51% | N/A | |
| Independent | 9,087 | 0.29% | N/A | |
| Independent | 8,854 | 0.28% | N/A | |
| 3,169,310 | 100% | N/A | ||
| County | Bob MenendezDecember | Bob HuginRepublican | Various candidatesOther parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | 44,617 | 47.43% | 45,954 | 48.85% | 3,502 | 3.72% | -1,337 | -1.42% | 94,073 |
| Bergen | 188,235 | 54.69% | 146,406 | 42.54% | 9,542 | 2.77% | 41,829 | 12.15% | 344,183 |
| Burlington | 98,749 | 52.78% | 82,240 | 43.96% | 6,111 | 3.27% | 16,509 | 8.82% | 187,100 |
| Camden | 113,137 | 61.82% | 63,279 | 34.58% | 6,600 | 3.61% | 49,858 | 27.24% | 183,016 |
| Cape May | 14,555 | 35.78% | 24,823 | 61.03% | 1,299 | 3.19% | -10,268 | -20.94% | 40,677 |
| Cumberland | 19,386 | 48.29% | 19,244 | 47.93% | 1,517 | 3.78% | 142 | 0.36% | 40,147 |
| Essex | 194,068 | 76.52% | 53,537 | 21.11% | 6,028 | 2.38% | 140,531 | 55.41% | 253,633 |
| Gloucester | 52,203 | 46.36% | 56,090 | 49.81% | 4,309 | 3.83% | −3,887 | −3.45% | 112,602 |
| Hudson | 132,180 | 76.35% | 36,087 | 20.84% | 4,863 | 2.81% | 96,093 | 55.51% | 173,130 |
| Hunterdon | 24,823 | 39.32% | 36,116 | 57.21% | 2,195 | 3.48% | -11,293 | -17.89% | 63,134 |
| Mercer | 80,773 | 63.71% | 41,225 | 32.52% | 4,785 | 3.77% | 39,548 | 31.19% | 126,783 |
| Middlesex | 148,806 | 58.21% | 98,764 | 38.64% | 8,051 | 3.15% | 50,042 | 19.57% | 255,621 |
| Monmouth | 112,383 | 42.99% | 140,628 | 53.79% | 8,408 | 3.22% | -28,245 | -10.80% | 261,419 |
| Morris | 93,763 | 43.60% | 114,783 | 53.38% | 6,492 | 3.02% | -21,020 | -9.78% | 215,038 |
| Ocean | 75,597 | 33.72% | 141,902 | 63.29% | 6,723 | 3.00% | -66,305 | -29.57% | 224,222 |
| Passaic | 86,242 | 57.75% | 58,382 | 39.10% | 4,700 | 3.15% | 27,860 | 18.65% | 149,324 |
| Salem | 9,060 | 38.04% | 13,687 | 57.47% | 1,068 | 4.485% | -4,627 | -19.43% | 23,815 |
| Somerset | 70,359 | 51.67% | 61,373 | 45.07% | 4,450 | 3.27% | 8,986 | 6.60% | 136,182 |
| Sussex | 20,229 | 33.23% | 37,720 | 61.96% | 2,926 | 4.81% | -17,491 | -28.73% | 60,875 |
| Union | 117,937 | 64.22% | 60,758 | 33.09% | 4,938 | 2.69% | 57,179 | 31.13% | 183,633 |
| Warren | 14,452 | 35.59% | 24,357 | 59.99% | 1,794 | 4.42% | -9,905 | -24.40% | 97,103 |
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Atlantic (largest municipality: Egg Harbor Township)
- Gloucester (largest municipality: Washington Township)
- Salem (largest municipality: Pennsville Township)
Menendez won six of 12 congressional districts. Hugin, however, won the remaining six, including five that elected Democrats.
| District | Menendez | Hugin | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 58% | 38% | Donald Norcross | |
| 43% | 53% | Jeff Van Drew | |
| 44% | 52% | Andy Kim | |
| 41% | 56% | Chris Smith | |
| 47% | 50% | Josh Gottheimer | |
| 56% | 41% | Frank Pallone | |
| 46% | 51% | Tom Malinowski | |
| 77% | 20% | Albio Sires | |
| 64% | 33% | Bill Pascrell | |
| 85% | 12% | Donald Payne Jr. | |
| 47% | 50% | Mikie Sherrill | |
| 63% | 34% | Bonnie Watson Coleman |
- Candidates at Vote Smart
- Candidates at Ballotpedia
- Campaign finance at FEC
- Campaign finance at OpenSecrets
Official campaign websites
- Tricia Flanagan (I) for Senate
- Madelyn Hoffman (G) for Senate
- Bob Hugin (R) for Senate
- Kevin Kimple (I) for Senate Archived August 14, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
- Bob Menendez (D) for Senate
- Murray Sabrin (L) for Senate
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