NJ Voter Guide For 2020 Senate Election: Booker, Mehta, Hoffman

Eric Kiefer
Updated ·8 min read
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NEW JERSEY — A U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey is up for grabs in the 2020 general election. But will Sen. Cory Booker be able to successfully fend off his Republican, Green Party and independent challengers?

Booker, a Democrat, is facing off against Rik Mehta of the Republican Party, Madelyn Hoffman of the Green Party, and independent candidates Daniel Burke and Veronica Fernandez.

The 2020 general election is being held mostly by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic. A limited number of polling places will be open on Nov. 3, the same day that mail-in ballots must be postmarked in order to be counted. READ MORE: NJ 2020 Election Guide: How To Vote, Who's On The Ballot

New Jersey voters can learn more about each candidate via the following links:

THE DEBATES

Booker is scheduled to debate Mehta at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27 in a forum sponsored by the New Jersey Globe. Learn more here.

It will be the only head-to-head between the candidates so far, a point that Mehta has lamented in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Hoffman, Burke and Fernandez – who weren’t invited to take part in the Oct. 27 event with Booker and Mehta – have complained about the lack of attention being given to third-party and independent candidates leading up to the election.

Their protests recall echoes of the bitter 2018 battle between Sen. Bob Menendez and Bob Hugin, when Hoffman and fellow candidate Murray Sabrin of the Libertarian Party ripped local pollsters for not including them in their results.

Earlier this month, Hoffman, Burke and Fernandez gathered outside Sen. Booker’s office at One Gateway Center in Newark, calling for “open debates among all ballot-qualified U.S. Senate candidates.” The three candidates invited Booker and Mehta to take part in an online debate of their own, which happened on Oct. 14. Neither candidate participated, they reported.

Watch the full debate here.

“No candidate should be allowed to 'glide' back to re-election,” Hoffman charged. “The Greens believe that any ballot-qualified candidate should be invited to participate so that the public learns what all the choices are.”

“Almost all New Jersey voters know there is an important election on November 3, and ballots are already in the mail,” Fernandez said. “What most voters do not know is that they have choices for the very important office of the U.S. Senate to represent our state. There are four other names on the ballot besides incumbent Cory Booker.”

Hoffman, Burke and Fernandez have launched an online petition for “equal access to the debate stage.” It’s gained more than 600 signatures as of Thursday.

THE POLLS

Booker has shown a consistent lead over Mehta in polls, including a study from Stockton University released on Friday.

According to pollsters, Booker holds a 25-point statewide lead over Mehta at 57 percent and 32 percent. Even among the majority of people who haven’t voted yet, Booker leads 52 percent to 35 percent.

The poll was conducted with 250 telephone interviews among 721 registered voters. The poll's margin of error is +/- 3.7 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Read more about its methodology here.

An Emerson College poll of 500 likely New Jersey voters in early September found Booker with a 52 percent to 28 percent over Mehta, with 16 percent of respondents undecided and 5 percent planning to vote for another candidate.

The poll had a Credibility Interval similar to a poll’s margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points. See its methodology here.

A poll done by Monmouth University in April – before Mehta earned the Republican nomination in the primary election – also found a large advantage for Booker. The senator held a 55 to 32 percent lead against Mehta, and a 58 percent to 33 percent lead against his fellow Republican, Hirsh Singh.

“The race could tighten once voters start paying attention, but that won’t happen until the fall,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

“Still, the fact that a clear majority support Booker’s reelection regardless of the opponent is good news for the incumbent,” Murray added.

The Monmouth University poll was taken among a random sample of 704 New Jersey adults aged 18 and older via telephone, and was based on a subsample of 635 registered voters. For results based on the registered voter sample, there is a 95 percent confidence that the error attributable to sampling has a maximum margin of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points (unadjusted for sample design). Learn more about the methodology here.

THE INCUMBENT

Booker, the former mayor of Newark, still lives in the city's central ward, a fact he played up during his bid for president. His run ended in January, when the senator announced there was no longer a path to victory.

The senator said he plans to continue fighting for the ideas he put forth in his presidential platform, which included a sweeping plan to tackle gun violence, progressive reform of the criminal justice system, creating "baby bonds" to help combat wealth inequality, and strengthening reproductive rights and access to abortion.

Recent issues and causes that Booker has supported include the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), recreational marijuana legalization, investment in water and public infrastructure, and simplifying student financial aid.

THE CHALLENGERS

Rik Mehta, an attorney and former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official, outlasted several other Republican candidates who either dropped out of the race or were defeated in the primary election.

Mehta, who lives in Chester Township and attended Rutgers University, describes himself as a small business owner and a first-generation American. Mehta also says he's proud of making history as “the first American of Indian origin to win the nomination in a statewide race.”

His platform includes “defending Constitutional rights,” creating an “affordable, accessible putting healthcare system” and “building New Jersey’s economy for the future.” He also says he will advocate to “bring jobs back from China.”

Madelyn Hoffman, the Green Party nominee, previously ran for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in 2018 against Sen. Robert Menendez, garnering more than 25,000 votes.

After Booker announced the end of his presidential campaign, Hoffman said she understands the reason behind his choice. "If anyone knows about the difficulties of competing on a level playing field in the U.S. electoral system, it's the Green Party," she asserted.

Hoffman, a staunch environmentalist and Green New Deal advocate, has been a consistent voice for peace efforts, cutting the military budget to reinvest in social services and Medicare For All over the past years. Her campaign takes no PAC contributions from corporations, she says.

Daniel Burke, a self-described LaRouche independent candidate, is running on a platform that includes “ending public bailouts of Wall Street gambling debts,” creating a new national bank, developing fusion power and exploring/colonizing space.

Veronica Fernandez, who is running as an independent, is a New Jersey native who says she's not a "typical candidate."

"I am not wealthy or well connected," Fernandez writes on her campaign website. "I don’t even have a college degree. What I am is a wife, mother, self employed, proud, blue-collar business owner who every day tries to figure it out and it just keeps getting harder."

She's running on a platform that includes campaign finance reform, lowering property taxes, supporting Medicare For All and creating a public bank in New Jersey.

The last day to register to vote for the general election was Oct. 13. This year, every voter was mailed a ballot that they can fill out and mail back. Because of possible delays in U.S. Postal Service deliveries, election advocates advised people to send them back no later than Oct. 22. Mail-in ballots must bear a postmark on or before Election Day or they won't be counted. They must be received by 8 p.m. on Nov. 10.

A limited number of polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. But voting machines will only be ADA-compliant machines for those who need assistance. All other voters will be given a provisional ballot. Find your local polling place here.

For more coverage of the 2020 election in New Jersey, go here.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Sign up for Patch email newsletters.

This article originally appeared on the Montclair Patch