Rob Menendez wins another term in Congress

Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) was re-elected to a third term in the heavily Democratic 8th Congressional district Tuesday after Republicans failed to field a challenger.

Menendez had a lock on the Hudson County-centered district against three independent candidates. GOP leaders had coalesced behind one of them, Aristotle Eliopoulos, a Jersey City teacher and union official and registered Republican. He received 88.6% of the vote, more than any other congressional candidate in New Jersey in the midterm elections.

Menendez, the son of former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez who is now in federal prison, has helped lead the fight against President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies. He has joined other members of the state’s congressional delegation in regularly visiting one of the administration’s immigration detention centers, Delaney Hall in Newark.

Menendez faced a primary challenge from the left this year, but easily dispatched Mussab Ali, a former Jersey City school board president.