The U.S. Senate race remains a toss-up in the early going with 20% of all voters having no preference at this time. The latest Rasmussen Reports election poll in the Garden State shows Republican Tom Kean, Jr. earning 41% of the vote while Democrat Robert Menendez attracting support from 39%.

This is our fourth election poll on the New Jersey Senate race. Twice we found Kean ahead by a modest margin and twice we found Menendez ahead by a bit. In all four surveys, Menendez has failed to reach the 40% level of voter support. Kean's support has been a bit more volatile ranging from a low of 34% to a high of 42%.

Kean is viewed favorably by 56% of voters and unfavorably by 28%. He is blessed with a well-respected name in the state where his father served as a popular Republican Governor.

Menendez is viewed favorably by 52% of voters and unfavorably by 33%. At the moment, just 67% of the state's Democrats plan to vote for him.

Menendez is the incumbent, having been appointed to replace Jon Corzine (D). Corzine resigned from the Senate after being elected Governor of New Jersey.

The Democrat leaning nature of the state may be the biggest reason for hope in the Menendez campaign. However, even that hope has a cautionary balancing factor. The state's top-ranked Democrat, Governor Corzine, has seen his Job Approval ratings tumble 11 points in the past month to 49%.

Corzine's numbers, despite the decline, look positively robust compared to the 38% Job Approval rating for President Bush in the state. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters disapprove.

The rolling average of the last three Rasmussen Reports election polls in New Jersey highlights the toss-up nature of the race. For the three-polls ending in March, Kean leads 40% to 38%. For the three polls ending a month earlier, the race was tied at 37%.

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