New Jersey voters give pro-Armenian senator bleak outlook as independent candidat Emerson College poll finds

Pro-Armenian Senator Bob Menendez will receive less than 10 per cent of New Jersey voters as an independent candidate, according to a poll released on April 2.

A poll by Emerson College Polling showed Menendez would receive only 9 per cent support in the general election as an independent candidate, Caliber.Az reports, citing the American online publication The Hill.

Menendez has served in the Senate since 2006, but his approval rating has dropped significantly since he and his wife Nadine Arslanian were indicted on bribery charges.

Last September, they were accused of accepting more than $600,000 from three businessmen in exchange for favours, including pressuring officials to stop or slow down investigations into the businessmen.

Menendez is also accused of acting as a foreign agent on behalf of the Egyptian government and accepting gifts from Qatar. Several new charges have been added to this case.

However, the senator did not admit guilt and rejected calls to resign. He announced last month that he would not run in the Democratic primary but would consider running in the general election as an independent candidate if acquitted.

Menendez's job approval rating among New Jersey voters is just 14 per cent and disapproval is 62 per cent, according to a poll released on April 2. Only 22 per cent of Democrats and 9 per cent of Republicans approve of his performance in the Senate.

The poll also showed Representative Andy Kim holding a comfortable lead in the Democratic primary with 51 per cent of voters, while his rivals are in the single digits.

The survey was conducted March 26-29 among 1,000 registered voters with a 3-point confidence interval. The sample included 408 Democratic primary voters with a confidence interval of 4.8 points and 310 Republican primary voters with a confidence interval of 5.5 points.