Rep. Robert J. Menendez (D-Jersey City)., a freshman congressman with an ambiguous political future, has repeatedly sidestepped questions over the last six days after his father, indicted U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, blasted Hudson County Democrats for endorsing his primary opponent, First Lady Tammy Murphy.
Two months after the Justice Department charged Bob Menendez with bribery, conspiracy, and illegally acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, Rob Menendez has been unable to secure a commitment from the Hudson Democratic organization to run on the county line for re-election next year.
More than a dozen Hudson Democratic insiders, many of whom like Menendez personally, expressed concern that, perhaps unfairly, sharing his father’s name could make him unelectable.
“We don’t want him to be a drag on the ticket,” one key Democrat said. “He’s not ready to distance himself.”
Menendez has refused to distance himself from his father’s blitzkrieg, which challenged the integrity of the Hudson Democratic mayors and legislators who no longer support him – “I know where all the skeletons in closets are, I know who all the players are in and out of government” – declining to say if he agreed or disagreed with the statement, or if he believed his father was making a threat.
Menendez also declined to say if he agreed or disagreed with his father’s allegation that Gov. Phil Murphy’s call his resignation was a “poltically motivated power move to hand his wife a Senate seat,” and evaded answering whether he shared his father’s criticism of Tammy Murphy’s qualifications.
He declined to say who he supports for the Senate seat or even to rule out running off the line with his father in Hudson County — if it comes to that.
Despite being offered multiple opportunities to come to the defense of the Hudson County Democratic organization, Menendez instead released a milquetoast statement that evaded each question put to him by the New Jersey Globe.
“The HCDO, the county executive-elect, mayors, and commissioners have all been important partners in making our communities better for every resident,” Menendez said. “We work closely together to support all of the municipalities in Hudson County. And because of our long-standing relationship, I trust them, and they trust me.”
Right now, Menendez’s future is on hold. Democratic leaders declined an attempt by the freshman congressman to secure the same kind of massive, full-throated endorsement given to Murphy.
Instead, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed that Hudson Democrats, at least for now, plan to hold off on an endorsement in the 8th district congressional race and instead intend to put a poll in the field early next year to see if Menendez is even viable. They want to know if sharing the name of a U.S. Senator with single-digit favorables dooms his candidacy even though he is unconnected to the scandal involving his father.
Several Hudson Democrats, all speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, confirmed that Bob Menendez had made multiple angry phone calls to local officials after they endorsed Murphy. Several Democrats suggested that the senator is repeatedly making things worse for his son.
“When is the father going to step up for Rob?” one Democratic leader asked. “When is he going to look out for his son?”
Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said that Menendez may eventually need to choose between loyalty to his father and returning to Congress.
“No one envies the difficult choices that Congressman Menendez has to make, but the more he avoids them, the more he risks the perception that he is trying to ride things out with his father. That’s a decision, and while it may be the right one for the family Thanksgiving table, it may also be the perilous one for his political survival.”
One of Menendez’s obstacles is the perception that he only made it to Congress in 2022 because his father cleared the field for him. Some Democrats now think Menendez now needs to earn his seat.
Menendez already has one likely primary opponent, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla. Bhalla has already amassed a $509,000 warchest, leaving his cash-on-hand in a better position than the incumbent congressman.
Bhalla could run on a line with another U.S. Senate candidate, Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown).