DICK ZIMMER

The New Jersey state police union has endorsed incumbent U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg for re-election over Republican rival Dick Zimmer.

State Policemen Benevolent Association (PBA) President Anthony F. Wieners wrote a letter to Lautenberg saying that he won their endorsement because of his support for law enforcement grants and “ensuring that officers are protected in their collective bargaining and due process rights.”

The union claims 33,000 members statewide.

The conservative anti-tax group Club for Growth released its own New Jersey Senate poll this morning that shows Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer in a statistical dead heat with incumbent Senator Frank Lautenberg.

According to the group’s survey of 300 likely voters, Zimmer has a one point lead over Lautenberg – 36% to 35%.

The group found that 72% of survey respondents had heard of Dick Zimmer, but only about 40% know enough about him to rate him.

The group also found that 43% of respondents had a favorable impression of Gov. Corzine, while 44% had an unfavorable impression of him.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer introduced a new campaign theme at a Passaic supermarket this afternoon: the “waste of the week.”

Zimmer today highlighted incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s support of the Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 – informally known as the Farm Bill – saying that it is full of pork-barrel spending, provides unneeded subsidies to agribusiness and raises prices for consumers.

“New Jerseyans pay twice for the Farm Bill: once in higher federal taxes to fund big handouts to wealthy farmers in other states and again in the higher prices they pay at their supermarket checkout line,” said Zimmer in a statement.  “Politicians like Senator Lautenberg have been in office so long and are so disconnected with average taxpayers that they fail to see the wastefulness of this bloated depression-era legislation.  To them, it is business as usual—catering to special interests, throwing good money after bad, all at taxpayer expense.”

Frank Lautenberg has an 18-point lead over Dick Zimmer in New Jersey's U.S. Senate contest: Getty Images Photo
A Rasmussen poll shows Sen. Frank Lautenberg hitting the 50% mark that pundits say is so crucial for any reelection effort.

The survey puts Lautenberg at 51% to Zimmer’s 33%. That’s up two points for Lautenberg last month, when Rasmussen put him at 49% to Zimmer’s 36%. Lautenberg is supported by 78% of the state’s Democrats, while Zimmer is backed by 72% of Republicans. Lautenberg has a commanding lead with the state’s unaffiliated voters, besting Zimmer 45% to 28%.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama continues to have a high single-digit lead over John McCain.

Recent polls on the U.S. Senate race confirm what New Jersey political observers already knew: Dick Zimmer is in a tough situation.

If Zimmer, the Republican nominee, is to have any hope of defeating Democratic incumbent Frank Lautenberg in November, he'll need to capitalize on each and every gaffe Lautenberg makes on the campaign trail. But that will be difficult, since Lautenberg has laid low, which experts say is meant to not risk upsetting the state's natural Democratic inclinations. 

The status quo won't likely work for Zimmer. Although he's running against an 84-year-old incumbent lawmaker with lukewarm approval ratings, Zimmer still trails by margins from the high single digits to low double digits in most polls. One poll from last month, however, showed the two in a statistical dead heat. A Gannett/Monmouth University survey released today showed Zimmer 11 points behind Lautenberg with registered voters and eight points behind him with likely voters. Zimmer has little money -- only $411,000 in the bank to Lautenberg's nearly $1.3 million. On top of that, the state's Democratic base is excited over Barack Obama's presidential candidacy. 

An internet advertisement launched by Republican Senate candidate Dick Zimmer two weeks ago has been taken off YouTube after a record company complained about copyright violations.

The ad featured the famed Led Zeppelin song “Ramble On” playing over footage of incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg speaking at a June event about gas prices.

Gov. Jon Corzine: Politicker photo

No sitting statewide Democrat enjoys what might be called popularity in public office here in New Jersey, according to a Friday Strategic Vision poll.

But Republicans continue to carry the dead weight numbers registered by President George W. Bush.

Up for re-election next year, the poll shows Gov. Jon Corzine with an upside-down job approval rating of 39/47%, and 14% undecided.

It also shows Bush running out of room before he bottoms out, with just 15% of voters approving of his job performance, 70% disapproving, and 14% undecided.

As today marks the filing deadline for FEC reports, PolitickerNJ.com has reported totals as the numbers have become available. Below are links to our complete coverage, broken down by races.

United States Senate candidate Dick Zimmer raised about $273,000 since May 15th, bringing his total raised since entering the race in April to $751,555.

Zimmer has $411,029 on hand.

“Considering that my fundraising began in mid-April, I am very encouraged by the level of support I have received in such a short amount of time,” said Zimmer. “It is clear that, as the cost of living in New Jersey becomes more and more unaffordable, New Jerseyans want more effective leadership in Washington.”

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg leads Republican challenger Dick Zimmer 49%-36%, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released today.

The poll also shows Gov. Jon Corzine approval rating at only 27%, while 40% disapprove. That’s a slight drop from last month.

The poll comes after two other recent polls from other organizations showed Lautenberg leading Zimmer by large margins, although a Rasmussen poll from early last month – just after both won their respective primaries-- showed the two in a statistical dead heat.