Does The Other Party Stand A Chance?

Republicans are expected to hold onto their seats in Ocean and Monmouth Counties and Democrats are expected to hold onto key areas after the November election, but what does it take for either party to break new ground in areas entrenched politically by the other side?

Director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, Patrick Murray, notes that often it takes "a scandal or a failure of a specific policy" from the party in control in order for challengers to get any sort of headway. He notes that the other problem often comes down to funding. He notes that since most sources of funding come from outside the immediate county of the nominee, it is difficult to drum up money from contributors for a losing campaign.

The catch 22 he notes comes from "qualified candidates don't run because they don't think they will get party support, and the party doesn't support candidates who they don't think are good."

Additionally with November 8th's election expected to have one of the lowest turnout's in a long time, Murray says that low turnout elections mean people who usually have already made up thier mind about which party they want to vote for.