Poll Booker heads into Election Day with double-digit lead

Who’s Jeff Bell? According to a Monmouth University Poll released Monday, some 61 percent of voters say they still don’t know enough about the Republican Senate hopeful’s positions to judge him as a candidate.Who’s Jeff Bell?

According to a Monmouth University Poll released Monday, some 61 percent of voters say they still don’t know enough about the Republican Senate hopeful’s positions to judge him as a candidate.

That would be manageable if Election Day was months away. Luckily for the man Bell is attempting to unseat, incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-Newark), it isn’t.

Monday’s poll had Booker leading Bell by 14 percentage points heading into Tuesday, up 54 percent to 40 percent. The former Newark mayor also has a particularly strong advantage over Bell in regards to female, black, Asian and Hispanic voters, according to the poll.

While Booker is known for his social media prowess and celebrity status, Bell has comparatively remained relatively quiet and away from the public’s eye.

Click here to subscribe to the NJBIZ morning, daily and industry email news blasts

Last year Booker defeated former Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan by 11 percentage points in a special election held to fill the vacant seat left by the death of longtime U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat. Despite the double-digit end result, Booker’s margin of victory surprised some who felt he should have ultimately won by more.

“The New Jersey Senate race has been pretty much status quo throughout the fall campaign,” Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray said Monday. “One big question is whether Booker can outperform his 11 point win in last year’s special election. There is some chatter that he underperformed in that race. I’m not sure I agree with that assessment given the record low 24percent turnout, but it is a perception that the Booker camp will probably want to put to rest with a bigger win this time.”

ALSO ON NJBIZ:

Half of Obamacare users don’t want to go back to the Exchange this year, survey says

Election Day: Some feel big business issues are on hold until Christie announces presidential intentions

S.F.W. blog: Did you say $37.50 or $3,750 for that bottle of wine? Customer says he was taken in Atlantic City. Would you have paid the bill?