Jersey City Councilman James Solomon, a progressive who represents the city’s burgeoning downtown neighborhoods, announced today that he is endorsing Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla’s Democratic primary challenge against Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City).
“As mayor, [Bhalla] has made historic investments in climate resiliency programs and delivered on ambitious street safety measures,” Solomon said in a statement. “He’s running for Congress on a progressive agenda to serve Jersey City, Hoboken, and the rest of NJ-8. In taking on the county line and political machine, Ravi is paving the way for more independent and qualified candidates to run for elected office throughout New Jersey – and that commitment to a free and fair democracy for all makes his voice that much more needed in Washington.”
The endorsement does not come as a massive shock, given that Solomon has long been at odds with the larger county Democratic organization in Hudson County, which is firmly behind Menendez. But now that he’s officially on Team Bhalla, Solomon could become an important campaign surrogate in downtown Jersey City, which Bhalla likely needs to win overwhelmingly to have a shot at the Democratic nomination.
Last month, Solomon hosted a conversation with both Bhalla and Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), who is running for U.S. Senate. Solomon, a potential 2025 mayoral candidate in Jersey City, has not made an official Senate endorsement yet, but he and Kim share a desire to reform machine politics and end the county organizational line; in fact, Solomon has filed an amicus brief in support of Kim’s anti-line lawsuit.
Menendez is currently in his first term in Congress representing the 8th district, which includes around half of Jersey City as well as heavily Hispanic areas in Newark, Elizabeth, and northern Hudson County. The congressman himself has done relatively little that voters might find objectionable, but the same is not true of his father, Senator Bob Menendez, who is under federal indictment on corruption charges.
Hudson County Democrats have abandoned the elder Menendez in favor of Senate candidate Tammy Murphy, but they’ve largely stuck by the younger Menendez. There’s one prominent exception, though: Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who has said that “it’s time to move on” from the Menendez family and that he’d be open to supporting a challenger.
See here for a full list of endorsements in New Jersey’s 2024 congressional contests.