Rep. Robert J. Menendez (D-Jersey City) put up hugely successful first-quarter fundraising numbers, raising $677,775 in the first three months of this year, and now has $1,175,405 cash-on-hand as he heads into the June Democratic primary.
Menendez, a freshman congressman, faces a primary challenge from Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, is showing some fundraising prowess – and a hefty warchest – at a time when money matters most: vote-by-mail ballots begin going out in eight days, and voters will begin to focus on the race for Congress in New Jersey’s 8th district.
The key issue in the campaign may be Menendez’s father, a three-term U.S. Senator. Bob Menendez faces an array of federal corruption charges, and his trial begins on May 6, about a month before the primary election.
Menendez has now raised $1,395,498 so far this cycle.
Bhalla has not yet announced his first-quarter fundraising numbers—the deadline is on Monday—but he had already raised $976,085 as of the end of 2023.
The two candidates will face off in their first debate on Sunday, May 5 at 8 PM. The debate is sponsored by the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, and Rider University.
Menendez, a former commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was elected to Congress in 2022 after Albio Sires (D-West New York) retired after sixteen years in Washington. Bhalla served as a Hoboken councilman before winning a 2017 mayoral election; he was re-elected in 2021.
The 8th district is staunchly Democratic. Under the current map’ boundaries, Joe Biden received 72% in 2020, while Menendez received 73% two years ago. The Democratic primary is tantamount to an election.