The first ad from the super PAC seeks to link Hugin with President Donald Trump, who is not particularly popular in the Garden State.
That the Senate Democratic establishment -- and make no mistake, that's what Senate Majority PAC is -- is spending money there is evidence of two things:
1. Menendez is being drastically outspent on TV by Hugin, who has dumped $24 million of his own money into the race, and Democrats are feeling pressure to level the playing field. (Another pressure point: Menendez is a former chairman of the Senate Democratic campaign committee, meaning that if he needs national donor money spent to save him, he gets national donor money spent to save him.)
2. Democrats are worried.
Most polling suggests Menendez is comfortably ahead. (The Real Clear Politics average lead for Menendez is 7 points.) But Menendez has lingering negatives from the trial he endured over accusations of corruption. (The 11-week trial ended in a hung jury and the Department of Justice declined to retry him.) And New Jersey -- because it doesn't have its own media market and is instead covered by Philadelphia and New York City -- is a difficult state for politicians to become known in.
All those facts, of course, don't change this underlying reality: Senate Democrats are spending $3 million in New Jersey that they can't spend in, say, Tennessee, where former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, is trying to swim upstream against the conservative nature of the state. Or in Arizona, where Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema is trying to win retiring Republican Sen. Jeff Flake's seat.
The Point: There's lots and lots of money washing around Senate races, sure. But make no mistake that it is a finite sum. And money spent in New Jersey could mean an opportunity lost in a state where Democrats could be playing offense.
-- Chris
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I think the Democrats will eat him up. You know you have a lot of people running. I'm hearing names that are shockingly bad but they're nasty."
-- President Donald Trump sizing up former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a potential presidential candidate (and the rest of the 2020 field).
MONEY IN DA BANK
President Donald Trump isn't on the ballot this November, but his fundraising numbers practically look like he is.
Trump raised $18 million in just the last three months -- for an election that's still more than two years away.
Recent polls have shown a similar trend with Cruz with a relative lead over his challenger.
The two candidates face off in a debate tonight. On Thursday, O'Rourke will participate in a CNN town hall -- Cruz dropped out of participating in the initially scheduled debate.
BIG LEAGUE RALLY TIME
Speaking of Ted Cruz...
President Donald Trump is following through on his promise to hold a "major rally" for Cruz "in the biggest stadium in Texas we can find."
Turns out the biggest stadium they found seats 8,000 (it's Houston's NRG Stadium, which, for the record, is not even Houston's largest stadium, much less Texas'.)
What is first lady Melania Trump's story? Chris investigates.
TRUMP'S MIXED BAG
Voters are relatively evenly split in their approval for President Donald Trump across a smattering of midterm battleground states (other than Arizona) according to new polling from CNN and SRSS.
📍Missouri: 51% approve, 45% disapprove
39% approve, 57% disapprove: Arizona 📍
📍 Texas: 49% approve, 48% disapprove
45% approve, 51% disapprove: Nevada 📍
📍Tennessee: 49% approve, 48% disapprove
YOUR DAILY GIF
From Brenna: "Just like Vice President Pence, I, too, strike a power pose before doing any public speaking. Also, let's talk about how good life would be if the dress code was always what it apparently is at the Sunbelt Agricultural Expo. ALMOST as good as sharing The Point with your friends."
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