Hoboken mayor endorses Menendez, two years after opposing him

As he seeks re-election to a third term in Congress, Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) has won over a key local official who opposed him in a prior campaign: Hoboken Mayor Emily Jabbour.

In 2024, Jabbour supported then-Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla’s Democratic primary campaign against Menendez; Jabbour, a city councilwoman at the time, was allied with Bhalla in local Hoboken politics and had run on his slate several times. Bhalla ended up winning Hoboken by a 26-point margin while losing districtwide 52%-38%.

But this year, as Menendez faces a new challenge from former Jersey City school board president Mussab Ali, Jabbour says the congressman deserves the support of Hoboken voters.

“Hoboken needs a relentless fighter for our residents in the halls of Congress, and that is exactly what Rob has been since he took office,” Jabbour said in a statement. “Rob has brought back millions for our residents, delivering critical funding to help us fight the impacts of climate change. He has stood up to the Trump Administration and fought to protect our residents from ICE.”

Like in both of his prior campaigns for the 8th district – a heavily urban, majority-Hispanic district based in Hudson County – Menendez has the support of the Hudson County Democratic Organization, led by powerful figures like Union City Mayor Brian Stack and Hudson County Executive Craig Guy. Of the 11 Hudson County mayors in the 8th district, seven of them endorsed Menendez in one fell swoop in January.

Jabbour, though, is less closely tied to the HCDO, and her endorsement is another sign that Menendez’s alliances extend beyond the confines of the party machine. He also has the support of Senator Andy Kim and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who became heroes for reform-minded progressives during their statewide campaigns in 2024 and 2025.

Ali, by contrast, has not had as much success as Bhalla did two years ago at consolidating frustrated anti-machine voters – or donors – behind his campaign. Bhalla, now a state assemblyman, has thus far not endorsed Ali’s effort to accomplish what he could not.

One other key figure in the district also has yet to weigh in on the race: Jersey City Mayor James Solomon, who (like Jabbour) took office as mayor in January. Solomon and Ali formed an alliance in last year’s mayoral race after the latter came in fourth place in the initial round of voting, but a similar progressive coalition has yet to form behind Ali’s congressional campaign.