Bob Menendez’s son wins House primary despite dad’s legal issues.

Rob Menendez, son of embattled Sen. Bob Menendez, has successfully fended off a primary challenge from Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla. Bhalla attempted to link the first-term Democrat to his father and discredit them as a “political machine” controlling New Jersey politics.

“It’s time to move on from the party bosses and Menendez machine that have dominated NJ politics. In Congress, I won’t be beholden to anyone except for the voters,” Bhalla stated on Monday.

Menendez’s victory over Bhalla virtually guarantees his re-election in November in the solid blue district, which encompasses parts of Newark and Jersey City.

The elder Menendez and his wife are facing over a dozen criminal charges related to allegations of using his Senate position to benefit the government of Egypt and interfere in cases involving three New Jersey businessmen, who were also charged.

The indictments claim that Sen. Bob Menendez received bribes in cash and gold bars in exchange for assisting Cairo, a serious accusation that led him to temporarily step down from his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Although there is no evidence linking the younger Menendez to his father’s alleged crimes, the indictments have reignited dissatisfaction among New Jersey progressives regarding the political control the Menendez family has wielded over the state for years.

Before entering Congress in January 2023, Rob Menendez served as a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a position he was appointed to by New Jersey’s progressive Governor Phil Murphy.

In 2022, he ran to represent New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District after the retirement of five-term former Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J., securing a victory with 83% of the vote.

Sires represented the 8th District after congressional boundaries were redrawn; he previously represented the 13th District, also once held by Sen. Bob Menendez from 1993 to 2006 before his election to the Senate.

Despite his father’s political challenges, Rob Menendez garnered support from the top three House Democrats – Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass.; and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.

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