Scandal-scarred Mendy in tight race

Sen. Robert Menendez may have beaten corruption charges last year thanks to a hung jury, but voters haven’t forgotten — leaving him in a close re-election race, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The New Jersey Democrat leads his GOP challenger, pharmaceutical executive Bob Hugin, by a slim 43-37 percent, the Quinnipiac University poll reported.

That’s a sharp turn from March, when the same poll put Menendez ahead by a comfortable 49-32.

An incumbent who can’t reach 50 percent is considered vulnerable.

Menendez was indicted on federal bribery charges in 2015, but the case ended in a deadlocked jury last fall and prosecutors unexpectedly decided not to seek a re-trial.

The two-term senator was accused of accepting lavish gifts from friend and co-defendant Dr. Salomon Melgen, a Florida opthalmologist, in return for political favors.

Prosecutors charged that Melgen directed $700,000 in corporate contributions to a Democratic super-PAC and instructed the group to use the contribution to help Menendez’s 2012 re-election.

Among the favors Menendez allegedly did in return, prosecutors said, was to push the Obama administration to change the Medicare-reimbursement policy in a way that would make millions for the doctor.

Prosecutors said Menendez also tried to push a port-security deal that involved Melgen and helped the doctor’s foreign girlfriends obtain travel visas to the US.

Despite the jury deadlock, the Senate Ethics Committee concluded that Menendez violated federal law, issuing a scathing letter of admonishment and ordered him to pay back the value of the gifts collected from the doctor.

Menendez has always maintained his innocence. Voters appear to have doubts. By a 49-16 percent margin. they said Menendez was involved in serious wrongdoing — including 38-25 percent among Democrats.

His approval rating was a negative 40-47 percent.

Twenty-five percent of voters cited ethics in government as the most important issue in deciding how they will vote for US senator, followed by taxes (21 percent) and health care (19 percent).

“As Sen. Robert Menendez sees his once-dominant lead whittled down to single digits, New Jersey voters are sending a clear message,” said Quinnipiac polling analyst Mary Snow. “They are troubled by the ethics cloud hanging over him.”

The Garden State has long trended blue in races for US Senate and the presidency.

The poll was conducted from Aug. 15-20 of 908 New Jersey voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.