Only in New Jersey

The Washington Times reports on a question on many minds - whether New Jersey Democrats will abandon their chosen candidate when polls look bad, and whether they'll pull a patently illegal stunt like in 2002:

Senate Democrats said they won't try to replace Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, despite new accusations of corruption that surfaced yesterday in the Democratic incumbent's already tough re-election race.

...

A Menendez fundraiser and confidant was heard on a newly released tape pressuring a government contractor to hire a person as "a favor" to Mr. Menendez, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported yesterday.

...

Earlier this month, the Newark Star-Ledger reported that federal investigators are looking into a rental deal between Mr. Menendez and a nonprofit agency that received millions in federal funding while he was a House member.

...

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), meanwhile, has a legal team ready to fight any last-minute Democratic effort to replace Mr. Menendez on the ballot, as the party did in 2002, when it ousted embattled Democratic Sen. Robert G. Torricelli in favor of Frank R. Lautenberg, a Democrat who went on to win the Senate election.

"Democrats have a track record in New Jersey of pulling last-minute stunts," said William McGinley, NRSC's general counsel.

I can't think of another state where this question would even be asked.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, New Jersey, Senate, 2006 Elections