Menendez Hold 4 Percent Edge in Senate Race
Support for Civil Unions, Not for Gay Marriage

As the campaign for the U.S. Senate heads into its final days, Democrat Robert Menendez leads Republican Tom Kean, Jr. among likely voters by a margin of 46 percent to 42 percent in a race where voters hold negative political and personal views of both candidates.

The latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll, conducted Oct. 29 through 31, also found that a majority of Garden State residents 54 percent agreed with the recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision requiring the State Legislature to extend the legal rights of married couples to gay and lesbian couples. But residents prefer the Legislature to allow civil unions instead of gay marriages by a margin of 40 percent to 29 percent.

For complete release please go to http://eagletonpoll.rutgers.edu/.

CONTACTS:

MURRAY EDELMAN, Ph.D.
(917) 968-1299 (cell)

TIM VERCELLOTTI, Ph.D.
(732) 932-9384, EXT. 285; (919) 812-3452 (cell)