Peter Woolley

Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama: Getty Images Photo
Evidence of John McCain’s convention bounce might have turned up in New Jersey, but that momentum hasn’t translated to former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer’s U.S. Senate campaign. 

According to a Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind poll released today, incumbent Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) leads Zimmer 46% to 35%. 

That’s roughly the same margin that Zimmer has trailed Lautenberg by in several other polls taken during the summer. 

“All of the attention has been on the national race,” said FDU pollster Peter Woolley.  “And both of the state’s U.S. Senate candidates have been off-stage in this year’s presidential drama.”

With two months to go before the June primary, most people still don’t know who any of the Republican Senate candidates are.

According to a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll released this morning, state Sen. Joe Pennacchio is the most recognized of the Republicans, with 77% of voters unable to recognize him. 84% of respondents didn’t know who Murray Sabrin was, while Andrew Unanue was unknown to 90%.

Democratic incumbent Frank Lautenberg is recognized by 85% of respondents.

The numbers slightly improved for the Republicans amongst Republican respondents. 29% have heard of Pennacchio, compared to Sabrin’s 18% and Unanue’s 12%.

Jon Corzine 48%
Doug Forrester 44%

Over the weekend, Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind re-interviewed likely voters who were undecided in the past two weeks. Based on those interviews, PublicMind cannot say that undecided voters are breaking decisively for either major candidate; however, undecided Democratic voters break clearly for Corzine; undecided Republican voters break clearly for Forrester. “In a race that’s been extremely negative, people will vote by default for their usual party preference or just stay home,� said Peter Woolley, director of the poll. “But note too that all the polls suggest a repeat of last year’s racial divide: that the Republican candidate runs competitively or ahead of the Democrat among white voters and runs way behind among non-white voters.�

Jon Corzine 43%
Doug Forrester 41%

Half (49%) of New Jersey's voters say the state is off on the wrong track. But they don't necessarily conclude that the Republicans have the answer. According to the most recent Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll, 57% of likely voters rate Governor Codey's performance as good or excellent; 43% say they'll vote for Democratic candidates for the state assembly while only 33% say they'll vote for Republican candidates; and in the race for governor, Democrat Jon Corzine leads by a margin of 44% to 36% over Republican Doug Forrester, with 10% unsure and 4% scattered among "other" candidates. When leaners are included, Corzine’s margin over Forrester grows to 48% to 38%.