These 7 Democrats Endorsed GOP’s Bob Hugin For US Senate

Another member of the Democratic Party in New Jersey has reached across the aisle to offer an endorsement for Bob Hugin, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in the 2018 General Election.

Hugin’s campaign announced Wednesday that the ex-drug company CEO and Marine Corps veteran has picked up the support of former Bayonne Mayor Richard Rutkowski in his quest to unseat longtime incumbent Sen. Robert Menendez.

Rutkowski, a Democrat, served as mayor of Bayonne from 1990 to 1994. He served as a city council member from 1978 to 1986. He also operated and owned a local family business, Hi Hat Caterers, for several years.

Rutkowski has lent support to GOP candidates in the past, such as Matthew Kopko, who ran for District 31 of the New Jersey General Assembly as a Republican in 2015.

“Bob Hugin has demonstrated a genuine interest in putting divisive party politics aside to develop a bipartisan consensus to address issues such as improving the health care system and getting Washington to be more responsive to the needs of people in New Jersey,” Rutkowski said.

“I’m tired of watching the ineffective, partisan gamesmanship in our nation’s capital,” Rutkowski continued. “As a former Army infantry officer, I believe it’s time to send in a Marine. It’s time to send in Bob Hugin.”

Hugin thanked Rutkowski for his support. “It’s long past time to retire corrupt career politicians like Bob Menendez,” he said.

Patch reached out to Menendez for comment on the endorsement and will include any reply we receive in this article.

Rutkowski is the seventh “prominent Democrat” to endorse Bob Hugin over the past seven weeks, his campaign team stated. Other endorsements have come from:

• Demetrius Terry - Former Executive Vice President of the College Democrats of New Jersey; President of the Seton Hall University College Democrats; New Jersey Chair of College Democrats of America Black Caucus
• Mike Voll – Former Middle Township Mayor and Township Committee Member
• Tony Frato - Branchville Mayor; Former Town Council Member; Volunteer Firefighter
• Mark Dunec - 2014 Democrat candidate for Congress in the 11th Congressional District; Democratic Commissioner on the Essex County Improvement Authority; Former Member of the New Jersey Leadership Council and National Council of AIPAC; Served on the Livingston Township Board of Adjustments; Former board member of the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy
• Teddy Price - Democrat Freeholder Candidate; President of the Toms River Democrats
• Jim Fozman - Brick Township Councilman (recently left Democratic Party)

Earlier this month, a Stockton University poll of voters in the 2018 U.S. Senate race revealed a "statistical dead heat" between Menendez and Hugin, with the Democrat leading the Republican by a mere 2 points (45 percent to 43 percent).

There are 2.18 million registered Democrats and 1.27 million registered Republicans in New Jersey, according to recent state election data. There are 2.34 million unaffiliated voters registered statewide.

• See related article: Polls Show Nail-Biting US Senate Race In New Jersey
• See related article: 3 Questions With New Jersey's US Senate Candidates: Election 2018
• See related article: Libertarians Standing Tall As Largest Third-Party In New Jersey

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Photo: Shutterstock (United States President Donald Trump meets with representatives from PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in the in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC. At right is Robert J. Hugin, Ex-Executive Chairman, Celgene Corporation)