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FDU Poll: Menendez leading Kyrillos 45%-33%, but Kyrillos has room to define himself

In a poll of New Jersey registered voters released by FDU Public Mind this morning, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez leads State Senator Joe Kyrillos in the race for U.S. Senate by a 45%-33% margin.  FDU did not poll likely voters.

Despite the 12 point gap, the news is not all bad for Kyrilllos.

Among Independent voters the candidates are virtually tied at 28% for Menedez and 27% for Kyrillos.  45% of Independents are undecided.

57% of respondents said they haven’t heard of Kyrillos.  Of those who have heard of him, 22% have no opinion of him,  16% have a favorable opinion and only 5% have an unfavorable opinion.

In contrast, 20% of respondents have never heard of Menendez.  20% of those who have heard of him have no opinion and 23% have an unfavorable opinion.  Only 36% have a favorable opinion of Menendez.   These are very week numbers for an incumbent.

The challenge for Kyrillos is to get known with Independent voters and to do so favorably.  Given Menendez’s $10.3 million to $1.9 million cash advantage (as of June 30) Kyrillos may need to save someone from a burning building or get a gay activist group to attack him unfairly in order to meet the challenge.

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Posted: August 2nd, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 2012 U.S. Senate Race, Bob Menendez, Joe Kyrillos | Tags: , , | 3 Comments »

3 Comments on “FDU Poll: Menendez leading Kyrillos 45%-33%, but Kyrillos has room to define himself”

  1. Susan said at 9:18 am on August 2nd, 2012:

    Where oh where is Kyrillos??? Why isn’t he making noise about Menedez’s liberal voting record in the senate? He just voted ‘NAY’ on Amendment 2573-Extending Middle Class Tax Cuts! He is a Reid lacky! Common Joe the silence is deafening!!! Wake up and make some noise!!!

  2. Joe Killeen said at 6:21 pm on August 2nd, 2012:

    12 points at this time in the process requires a lot of noise to overcome. Just the process would probably tend to make nothing stand out for Mr. Kyrillos.
    I do have one suggestion that would stand out and allow him to make up a lot of those 12 points.
    Mr. Kyrillos should announce his intention to vote to over ride the Governor’s second veto of S1322- passed by both houses of the legislature for the second time this year it would reinstate and maintain New Jersey’s participation in the Northeast Regional Green House Gas Initiative.
    Yes, I know not an initiative that follows the party line and certainly not one that the Governor would take well.
    But think of the logical benefits to Mr. Kyrillos and the side benefit to the State.
    This isn’t a liberal or a conservative policy. It is more of an insurance policy that the State can reach out for down the line. I believe there are 11 or 12 Northeastern states that are still on this initiatives roles as active adherents to a wish list of policies to reduce the level of GHG in the regions air.
    Mr. Kyrillos can announce his intent, pronounce all the qualifiers he believes necessary but set himself and his position apart from the same ole and in the end make the voters stand up and take notice of him and make a whole lot of points against a competitor who doesn’t feel the need to do much competing at this point. All in all a win and possibly big win action.

  3. Joe Killeen said at 4:10 pm on August 6th, 2012:

    It’s tuff being involved today with the quality of the overall debate so, so degraded.
    My brilliant suggested strategy for Mr. Kyrillos goes over like a CO2 filled lead painted balloon.
    Only to be pushed aside by Mr. Kyrillos’ insightful and proactive to the max, “I’ll be the smartest man in September…..” pronouncement.
    Oh well back to the drawing board. The missed and rejected opportunities are many and bi partisan in the bullpen of inertia. There will be other opportunities for action and I will try to keep up with the pace.