With Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) now officially the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, it’s natural to assume that nearly all New Jersey Democrats will fall in line behind the state’s likely next senator. But there’s one person for whom that choice is a bit more complicated: Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City).
That’s because Menendez’s father, incumbent Senator Bob Menendez, has filed to run for re-election as an independent after being abandoned by state Democrats following his indictment on federal corruption charges. And the younger Menendez isn’t saying who he’ll support in a potential contest featuring his father, Kim, and Republican Curtis Bashaw.
When approached by the New Jersey Globe yesterday in the halls of the Capitol, Menendez declined to talk, saying that he needed to get to an event. A request for comment placed with his campaign today similarly did not yield any response.
Menendez, a freshman Democrat seeking a second term this year, has had to walk a political tightrope ever since his father was accused by federal prosecutors last fall of taking bribes from several New Jersey businessmen. (The elder Menendez’s trial is currently ongoing.)
While the vast majority of state Democrats cut ties with Senator Menendez shortly after the charges were unsealed, Congressman Menendez stood by him, saying that he had “unwavering confidence” in his father’s integrity. “[I] look forward to seeing him move past this distraction to continue fighting for our state in the United States Senate,” Menendez said in a statement at the time.
When Democrats in Hudson County – the political base of both Menendezes – announced that they would support First Lady Tammy Murphy for Senate, the younger Menendez declined to follow suit. In December of last year, Menendez hinted to the New Jersey Globe that he would make an endorsement soon, but he never did, even after Murphy dropped out of the race and Kim became the overwhelming frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.
But at the same time, Menendez made sure to put some distance between himself and his father in his fight for renomination against Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla. With Bhalla bearing down on the congressman over his father’s legal troubles, Menendez hammered home the message that he was his own man, saying in one ad that Bhalla “wants to run against my father because he’s scared to run against me.”
Menendez won his primary against Bhalla last week, and since his 8th congressional district is safely Democratic, he’s got no serious obstacles left to a second term in Congress. But if his father does indeed go through with his independent bid, potentially imperiling Democrats’ hold on the seat, the political headaches for the congressman aren’t over yet.