roshni
09-08-2006, 11:20 AM
Battle of surnames underlies Senate contest in N.J.
Family ties and Hispanic Z factor' play into race
By Kathy Kiely
USA TODAY
WEST NEW YORK, N.J. In the past four presidential elections, New Jersey has voted Democratic. The state has a Democratic governor and Democratic-controlled Legislature. Yet in a year when Republicans in the rest of the country are struggling, Tom Kean Jr. has a shot at knocking off Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez.
Several recent polls show Menendez, a veteran congressman appointed last year after Jon Corzine was elected governor, in a dead heat with Kean.
Menendez says the reason is that he's running against two Tom Keans: the 36-year-old state senator who is on the Nov. 7 ballot and his identically named father, one of New Jersey's most popular governors and chairman of the 9/11 Commission. It's a competitive race only because of my opponent's surname, Menendez said last week over coffee and eggs at one of his state's trademark diners.
Others think Menendez's surname and the state's growing ethnic mix may be factors, too. I'll be blunt. It's not a nice thing to say about New Jersey, but being a Latino may be costing him in some parts of the state, says David Rebovich, a political scientist at Rider University. That view is shared in this diverse community, part of a congressional district Menendez represented for 13 years before joining the Senate in January.
The face of New Jersey is changing, says West New York Mayor Albio Sires, a Cuban-American like Menendez who is running to succeed him in the House. Some people may resent that.
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060908/a_hispanics08.art.htm
Family ties and Hispanic Z factor' play into race
By Kathy Kiely
USA TODAY
WEST NEW YORK, N.J. In the past four presidential elections, New Jersey has voted Democratic. The state has a Democratic governor and Democratic-controlled Legislature. Yet in a year when Republicans in the rest of the country are struggling, Tom Kean Jr. has a shot at knocking off Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez.
Several recent polls show Menendez, a veteran congressman appointed last year after Jon Corzine was elected governor, in a dead heat with Kean.
Menendez says the reason is that he's running against two Tom Keans: the 36-year-old state senator who is on the Nov. 7 ballot and his identically named father, one of New Jersey's most popular governors and chairman of the 9/11 Commission. It's a competitive race only because of my opponent's surname, Menendez said last week over coffee and eggs at one of his state's trademark diners.
Others think Menendez's surname and the state's growing ethnic mix may be factors, too. I'll be blunt. It's not a nice thing to say about New Jersey, but being a Latino may be costing him in some parts of the state, says David Rebovich, a political scientist at Rider University. That view is shared in this diverse community, part of a congressional district Menendez represented for 13 years before joining the Senate in January.
The face of New Jersey is changing, says West New York Mayor Albio Sires, a Cuban-American like Menendez who is running to succeed him in the House. Some people may resent that.
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060908/a_hispanics08.art.htm