(Updated) Rob Menendez staying neutral for now in gov race, most Hudson Assembly primaries

This story was updated at 2:51 p.m. with information about an event Menendez attended over the weekend for Brian Stack’s preferred candidate slate, which includes Mikie Sherrill.

As a Democratic congressman representing most of Hudson County in the House, Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) is stuck in the middle of this year’s intense Democratic primary cycle more than almost anyone else.

Of the six Democrats running for governor, two of them, Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) and Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), are Menendez’s House colleagues, and another two, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, lead the biggest cities in Menendez’s district. And Democrats are at war in all three of Hudson County’s Assembly districts, pitting incumbents against one another and turning old alliances into rivalries.

For now, Menendez told the New Jersey Globe that he’s staying out of most races.

“There are a lot of great candidates running, especially in the gubernatorial race,” the congressman said yesterday. “I have a relationship with everyone in the Democratic field, which is interesting. It shows the depth of our bench, and the people that want to step up to serve the state, which I think is a good thing.”

Despite his professed neutrality, though, Menendez appeared at a campaign launch hosted by State Sen./Union City Mayor Brian Stack over the weekend that was in support of Sherrill, among other candidates. But Menendez insisted that he’s not endorsing Sherrill, and that he’s asked all the time to attend events for a variety of state and local candidates in Hudson County whom he may or may not be supporting.

“[Sherrill is] who that universe is supporting,” Menendez told the New Jersey Globe today. “It’s complicated. I’m not trying to be cute with it.”

Several of the contenders for governor have supported Menendez in the past; both Gottheimer and Baraka endorsed Menendez in his competitive 2024 primary race, as did the New Jersey Education Association, which is led by gubernatorial candidate Sean Spiller. And as evidenced by Stack’s event, Sherrill is the preferred candidate of Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO), which has long been allied with Menendez.

Fulop, on the other hand, is no Menendez fan; he said during last year’s primary that he believed it was “time to move on” from the entire Menendez family (and, moreover, got his start in politics by running against Menendez’s father in a 2004 U.S. House primary).

Menendez said it’s possible that he will make an official endorsement before the June primary, but he didn’t make any assurances.

“We’ll see,” he said. “I think it’s a healthy thing for primary voters to have a broad variety of options to choose from.”

(Many of Menendez’s colleagues have already weighed in: Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver are supporting Baraka, Reps. Donald Norcross and Herb Conaway have endorsed former State Senate President Steve Sweeney, and Rep. Frank Pallone is backing Sherrill.)

As for races for the Assembly, Hudson County is witnessing a primary battle this year unlike anything in decades. In the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd districts, candidates backed by the HCDO face opponents on Fulop’s gubernatorial slate, and the 32nd district also features a third renegade slate of formidable candidates.

In many cases, Menendez has longtime allies on both sides. The 31st district features a showdown between Assemblyman William Sampson (D-Bayonne) and Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker (D-Jersey City), the HCDO’s picks, and Assemblywoman Barbara McCann Stamato (D-Jersey City) and Bayonne Councilwoman Jacqueline Weimmer, Fulop’s running mates; in the 32nd district, Fulop-backed Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez (D-Jersey City) and Jersey City Councilman Yousef Saleh face a challenge from HCDO endorsees Jennie Pu and Crystal Fonseca.

Menendez has endorsed Stack’s preferred candidates in the 33rd district, Assemblyman Gabe Rodriguez (D-West New York) and North Bergen businessman Larry Wainstein, over two candidates backed by North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco; he’s also supporting Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis for sheriff against incumbent Frank Schillari. (Both endorsements were made at Stack’s event over the weekend.)

Menendez indicated that he may ultimately take sides in the other races, though he didn’t say which direction he was leaning. One candidate not likely to receive Menendez’s support, though, is Hoboken Mayor and 32nd district candidate Ravi Bhalla, who waged a scorched-earth primary campaign against Menendez in 2024; Bhalla is running this year alongside Katie Brennan.

“At some point, probably, in the Assembly races, we’ll get a little bit more involved,” Menendez said. “But the challenging thing about some of these primaries is having friends across the board. It’s the same thing as the gubernatorial. And so we want to be smart about it, we want to be thoughtful about it and cognizant of all the different relationships that we have.”