Sen. Bob Menendez’s son wins New Jersey House primary amid father’s corruption trial

Jared Gans
·1-min read

Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.) will win the Democratic nomination for another term in his House seat representing New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District, Decision Desk HQ projects.

Menendez held off primary challenges from Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and businessman Kyle Jasey for the nomination and will be the heavy favorite to win two more years in the House in November in the solid Democratic district.

Menendez faced a much more trying primary this year than for his first election in 2022 amid the legal battles surrounding his father, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). The elder Menendez is in the midst of a federal bribery trial on a wide range of charges.

The congressman is not involved in any of the allegations facing his father, but he faced criticism from detractors who accused him of benefitting from his last name, clearing the way for him to have been elected to the House in the first place with widespread support from the New Jersey Democratic establishment.

Bhalla, who was viewed as the more serious challenger to Menendez with Jasey more of a longshot, made those accusations a focal point of his campaign. Menendez and Bhalla differed on a few policy issues, but Menendez’s connections to his father consumed much of the primary.

But Menendez was able to get by with the nomination. Throughout his campaign, he sought to highlight his work for the district and constituent services to convince voters that he deserved two more years in Congress.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • France's far right 'sad and disappointed' over election result

    With the champagne on ice, they thought they were on the brink of victory - but it didn't happen.

  • Kamala Harris won't save Democrats if she takes over for Biden, warns historian who correctly predicted 9 of the last 10 elections

    Professor Allan Lichtman told WSJ that based on his election model, President Joe Biden remains the Democrats' best shot for the White House in 2024.

  • China anchors 'monster ship' in South China Sea, Philippine coast guard says

    The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Saturday that China's largest coastguard vessel has anchored in Manila's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, and is meant to intimidate its smaller Asian neighbour. The China coastguard's 165-meter 'monster ship' entered Manila's 200-nautical mile EEZ on July 2, spokesperson for the PCG Jay Tarriela told a news forum. The PCG warned the Chinese vessel it was in the Philippine's EEZ and asked about their intentions, he said.

  • Britain is about to discover just how dangerous Labour really is

    The canapes and white wine will be packed away. The wooing of the business lobbyists will come to an end. The cosy dinners with Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Tony Blair for select donors will be consigned to the past, and there will be no more polite requests to sign public letters of support for its policies.

  • Iranian warship capsizes in Gulf port ‘accident’

    An Iranian warship capsized while undergoing port repairs, killing two officers and injuring several others.

  • North Korean troops could be sent to Ukraine due to their sheer numbers, not their effectiveness, experts say

    A report said North Korea may send troops to aid Russia in Ukraine. If true, it would be due to their numbers not effectiveness, experts told BI.

  • Will the Starmers be the first prime ministerial family since the Wilsons not to live in Downing Street?

    The move to Downing Street is a symbolic moment for any incoming prime minister, the most obvious proof of your drastically changed situation. You do not merely run the shop, as Mrs Thatcher said, you live above it. Downing Street is one of the most prestigious political residences on Earth, perhaps second only to the White House. For five years, barring calamity, it is yours, for you to decorate with all the golden Lulu Lytle wallpaper you like.

  • We don’t need to veer Left or Right – we just need to be Conservative

    ‘Taxes are up, the police are woke, and immigration is through the roof.” The man looking at me was recently retired, reasonably prosperous, and a lifelong Conservative voter. But this was his explanation why he could not vote for me, the party’s candidate in West Suffolk.

  • Obama’s Go-To Guy in the White House Says There’s No Way Biden Wins

    David Axelrod didn’t mince words when the subject of the president’s chances of re-election came up during a Sunday appearance on CNN, saying he doesn’t believe Joe Biden understands he can’t beat Donald Trump in November.“There are certain immutable facts of life, and those were painfully obvious on that debate stage, and the president just doesn’t seem to come to—he hasn’t come to grips with it. He’s not winning this race,” Axelrod said on Inside Politics. “If you just look at the data and tal

  • Why this is no victory for Macron

    On Sunday night the French Left were dancing in the streets, Emmanuel Macron’s camp were weakened but not wiped out and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally failed to wrest power with a parliamentary majority - coming a humiliating third.

  • Carmakers unhappy after EU hits China with tariffs on electric vehicles

    The European Union has slapped extra provisional duties of up to 38 percent on Chinese electric car imports because of "unfair" state subsidies, despite Beijing's warnings the move would unleash a trade war. But company reps in both China and Europe are critical of the steps. Brussels launched an investigation last year into Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers to probe whether state subsidies were unfairly undercutting European automakers.Since announcing the planned tariff hike last month, o

  • Russian forces appear to be making crude artillery guns by pulling the main armaments off of old BMP armored fighting vehicles

    The improvised 2A28 artillery guns are highly likely to be inaccurate. Videos show the device jumping off of the ground as it fires.

  • Suella Braverman losing support as potential party leader, Tories say

    Robert Jenrick, Priti Patel and Kemi Badenoch, who have all ruled out deal with Reform, seen as more viable candidates

  • Opinion: Could Trump Be Considering Divorcing Melania if He Wins?

    When Donald Trump squared off in a high-stakes debate in Atlanta last week, his wife Melania wasn’t there to offer the traditional post-debate smooch. When Trump received a guilty verdict in a Manhattan fraud trial, Melania wasn’t there for the traditional hand-holding walk out of the courthouse. While Trump crisscrosses the country holding rallies, Melania has confined her campaigning to venues just down the hall. In April, she joined Caitlyn Jenner and Mehmet Oz in addressing Log Cabin republi

  • Sister of North Korean leader Kim calls South Korea's live-fire drills 'suicidal hysteria'

    The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called South Korea’s recent front-line live-fire drills “suicidal hysteria” as she threatened unspecified military steps Monday if further provoked. The warning by Kim Yo Jong came after South Korea resumed firing exercises near its tense land and sea borders with North Korea in the past two weeks. The exercises were the first of their kind since South Korea suspended a 2018 agreement with the North aimed at easing front-line military tensions in June.

  • Left leads French election in an unexpected upset

    STORY: France was on course for a hung parliament Sunday after a leftist alliance unexpectedly took the top spot ahead of the far right.Supporters of the left-wing New Popular Front cheered as results of the second round of parliamentary elections were announced.The leftist alliance gathers the hard left, the Socialists and Greens.They were forecast to win up to 215 seats out of 577, according to pollsters' projections.These projections are usually reliable.At the headquarters for the far-right National Rally, or RN, the mood was far more somber, with early results placing them in third.Ahead of the vote, opinion surveys had projected the RN would win comfortably.But left and centrist alliances cooperated by pulling scores of candidates from three-way races in a bid to build a unified anti-RN vote.RN leader Jordan Bardella said France has been pushed into the hands of the far left - and towards uncertainty.The results would divide parliament into three big groups, all with vastly different platforms and no tradition of working together.Green Party leader Marine Tondelier said she was determined to keep the coalition alive.“Social justice won tonight. Environmental justice has won. Tonight, the people won. And it's only just beginning.”The results are also a humiliation for French President Emmanuel Macron.His centrist alliance, which he founded to underpin his first presidential run in 2017, was projected to be narrowly second.He called the snap election after his ticket was trounced in European Parliament elections last month.Voters punished him and his ruling alliance for a cost of living crisis and failing public services, as well as over immigration and security.

  • Dutch Patriot air defence system deployed in Lithuania

    A total of three Patriots are currently protecting Ukrainian airspace from Russian air attacks: two from Germany and one from the US.

  • Voices: Welcome to a Labour government – it’s time to fix the Brexit mess

    COMMENT: Now that Keir Starmer and his party have finally achieved power, it’s time to stop being scared of sounding ‘too left wing’ and start working on making a real difference, writes Femi Oluwole. Failing to do so could be catastrophic – and could hand Nigel Farage the keys to No 10...

  • Hawaii governor says Biden could decide within days whether to remain in the presidential race

    President Joe Biden could make a decision within days whether to remain a candidate for reelection, said Hawaii’s governor who participated in a recent meeting with Biden and other Democratic governors and whose family has known the president for years.

  • More and More Supporters Are Turning Their Backs on Biden

    The holiday weekend has done little to quell concerns within Joe Biden’s camp about his participation in the 2024 race, with numerous reports indicating Biden has just days to turn the storyline around.On Saturday, The New York Times revealed it had spoken to at least 50 Democrats in the last week, with the consensus from officials, lawmakers and strategists that Biden’s presence in the race had become “unsustainable,” the newspaper reported.President Biden, who was pictured attending church ser