Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) is still declining to publicly take sides in next year’s contest for U.S. Senate, though he’s hinting that he may make an endorsement soon.
“We’re very supportive and appreciative of the support that we have, and we’ll be clear about where we stand on [the Senate race],” he told the New Jersey Globe yesterday.
The Senate election puts Menendez, a freshman congressman from Hudson County, in a tough spot politically. The congressman’s father, Senator Bob Menendez, is the incumbent senator, but due to Menendez’s severe legal troubles, the Hudson County Democratic organization is instead backing First Lady Tammy Murphy for his seat. (A third contender, Rep. Andy Kim, is also running.)
Hudson Democrats are also supporting the younger Menendez for re-election, meaning that he’s set to officially share a slate with Murphy on next year’s ballot. That makes it likely that, when Menendez does eventually make an endorsement, it will be for Murphy rather than for his father.
Six of Menendez’s House colleagues – Reps. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff), Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark), and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) – are also backing Murphy. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), meanwhile, says she’s unlikely to make an endorsement at all, arguing that the decision should be left up to voters.