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Incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez (D) defeated former biopharmaceutical executive Bob Hugin (R) and six others in the general election on November 6, 2018, for New Jersey's Class 1 Senate seat.
Thirty-five of the 100 seats in the United States Senate were up for election in 2018, including two seats up for special election. Republicans gained four previously Democratic-held seats and Democrats gained two previously Republican-held seats, resulting in a net gain of two seats for the Republican Party and a 53-seat majority in the chamber. This race was identified as a 2018 battleground that might have affected partisan control of the chamber in the 116th Congress. At the time of the election, Republicans held a 51-seat Senate majority. Democrats held 47 seats, and the two independents caucused with them. Democrats faced greater partisan risk in 2018, as they were defending 26 seats while Republicans were only defending nine. Democrats had to defend seats in 10 states Donald Trump (R) won. The GOP defended one Senate seat in a state Hillary Clinton (D) won.
Menendez had held the seat since 2006 when he defeated Thomas Kean Jr. (R) by nine percentage points. Menendez won re-election in 2012 by a margin of 18 percentage points. New Jersey hadn't elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 1972. Several media and ratings outlets, however, suggested that the 2018 Senate race could be competitive. NBC News added Menendez's seat to their "Top 10 Senate takeovers list" on October 3, 2018, and on October 4, 2018, The Cook Political Report changed its rating of the race from Likely Democratic to Lean Democratic.
Third party and independent candidates included Tricia Flanagan (New Day NJ), Madelyn Hoffman (Green Party), Kevin Kimple (Make it Simple), Natalie Lynn Rivera (For the People), Murray Sabrin (L), and Hank Schroeder (Economic Growth).
U.S. Senate election in New Jersey
| Poll | Poll sponsor | Menendez | Hugin | Sabrin | Unsure/Someone else/Wouldn't Vote | Margin of Error | Sample Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quinnipiac University (October 29 - November 4, 2018) | N/A | 55% | 40% | 0% | 5% | +/-4.0 | 1,115 |
| Stockton University (October 25-31, 2018) | N/A | 51% | 39% | 3% | 6% | +/-4.0 | 598 |
| Vox Populi Polling (October 27-29, 2018) | N/A | 54% | 46% | 0% | 0% | +/-3.4 | 814 |
| Emerson College (October 24-26, 2018) | N/A | 47% | 42% | 0% | 7% | +/-4.0 | 659 |
| Rutgers University (October 12-19, 2018) | N/A | 51% | 46% | 0% | 4% | +/-5.1 | 496 |
U.S. Senate election in New Jersey
| Poll | Menendez | Hugin | Sabrin | Unsure/Someone else/Wouldn't Vote | Margin of Error | Sample Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monmouth University (October 11-15, 2018) | 49% | 40% | 1% | 10% | +/-4.3 | 527 |
| Quinnipiac University (October 10-16, 2018) | 51% | 44% | 0% | 5% | +/-4.3 | 873 |
| CBS News/YouGov October 2-5, 2018 | 49% | 39% | 0% | 12% | +/-3.6 | 704 |
| Quinnipiac University September 15- October 2, 2018 | 53% | 42% | 0% | 5% | +/-4.1 | 1,058 |
| Fairleigh Dickinson University September 26-30, 2018 | 43% | 37% | 0% | 21% | +/-3.9 | 508 |
| Stockton University September 19-27, 2018 | 45% | 43% | 3% | 8% | +/-4.3 | 531 |
| Quinnipiac University Poll August 15-20, 2018 | 43% | 37% | 0% | 20% | +/-4.6 | 908 |
| Gravis Marketing/Sabrin (L) Internal Poll August 14-15, 2018 | 40% | 30% | 7% | 44% | +/-3.6 | 753 |
| Gravis Marketing July 6-10, 2018 | 43% | 41% | 0% | 16% | +/-4.1 | 563 |
The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Hugin | Republican Party | $39,236,111 | $39,113,138 | $122,973 | As of December 31, 2018 |
| Bob Menendez | Democratic Party | $9,579,191 | $11,003,884 | $219,432 | As of December 31, 2018 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018.
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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U.S. Senate, New Jersey General Election, 2014
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Cory Booker Incumbent |
55.8% | 1,043,866 | |
| Republican | Jeff Bell | 42.3% | 791,297 | |
| Libertarian | Joe Baratelli | 0.9% | 16,721 | |
| Independent | Jeff Boss | 0.2% | 4,513 | |
| Independent | Antonio N. Sabas | 0.2% | 3,544 | |
| Democratic-Republican | Eugene Lavergne | 0.2% | 3,890 | |
| Economic Growth | Hank Schroeder | 0.3% | 5,704 | |
| Total Votes | 1,869,535 | |||
| Source: New Jersey Division of Elections | ||||
U.S. Senate, New Jersey, General Election, 2012
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Robert Menendez Incumbent |
58.9% | 1,987,680 | |
| Republican | Joe Kyrillos | 39.4% | 1,329,534 | |
| Libertarian | Kenneth R. Kaplan | 0.5% | 16,803 | |
| Green | Ken Wolski | 0.5% | 15,801 | |
| Jersey Strong Independents | Gwen Diakos | 0.3% | 9,359 | |
| Totally Independent Candidate | J. David Dranikoff | 0.1% | 3,834 | |
| America First | Inder "Andy" Soni | 0.1% | 3,593 | |
| Responsibility Fairness Integrity | Robert "Turk" Turkavage | 0.1% | 3,532 | |
| Socialist Party USA | Gregory Pason | 0.1% | 2,249 | |
| No Slogan | Eugene Martin Lavergne | 0.1% | 2,198 | |
| Reform Nation | Daryl Mikell Brooks | 0.1% | 2,066 | |
| Total Votes | 3,376,649 | |||
| Source: New Jersey Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Demographic data for New Jersey
| New Jersey | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total population: | 8,935,421 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 7,354 | 3,531,905 |
| Gender | ||
| Female: | 51.2% | 50.8% |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 68.3% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 13.5% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 9% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.5% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 19% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 88.6% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 36.8% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $72,093 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 12.7% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in New Jersey. | ||
As of July 2016, New Jersey had a population of approximately 9 million people, and its three largest cities were New Jersey (pop. est. 283,000), Jersey City (pop. est. 265,000), and Paterson (pop. est. 147,000).
