Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) fended off a primary challenge on Tuesday from Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, setting the stage for a second term despite his father’s criminal indictment looming over the family.
Menendez won the primary for New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District after garnering 53.5% of the vote with 42% of the vote counted. The Associated Press called the race at 9:19 p.m., just over an hour after polls closed.
Menendez faced two Democratic challengers for the nomination: Bhalla, who secured 36.2% of the vote, and Kyle Jasey, who came in third with 10.3%. Menendez’s victory makes him the favorite to win the seat in November, as New Jersey’s 8th District is rated as D+22.
Menendez’s primary challenge came after initially being expected to secure a second term without much struggle. However, that changed after his father, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), was hit with a criminal indictment after allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes “to use his official position to protect and enrich them and to benefit the Government of Egypt,” according to the indictment.
Rob Menendez has not been accused of any wrongdoing, nor has he been connected to his father’s case. However, Democratic challengers sought to use his father’s legal troubles as an opportunity to make him vulnerable.
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Rob Menendez will go on to face Republican Anthony Valdes, who won his party’s nomination for the seat without contention.
The elder Menendez did not seek reelection as a Democrat to his Senate seat but filed to run as an independent in November. Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) won the Democratic nomination for the Senate race.
