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New Jersey Rep. Rob Menendez Jr. will survive his Democratic primary challenge Tuesday, CNN projects, fending off Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla in the face of backlash to the congressman’s scandal-tarred father, Sen. Bob Menendez.
The senator is on trial in New York City on federal corruption and bribery charges. He has pleaded not guilty. Menendez Jr., who is running for a second term in New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District, sought to steer clear of his father’s legal trouble and focus on his own resume.
That task became more difficult as the campaign dragged on and as the elder Menendez’s trial began to make headlines. The senator’s 11th-hour decision to file for reelection as an independent (he dropped out of the Democratic primary) also complicated his son’s path. But strong support from the hobbled-but-powerful party machine will likely have helped the congressman overcome any Menendez fatigue in the North Jersey district.
Bhalla’s bid was hampered in part by his own ethics allegations. He is facing a lawsuit from a former Hoboken official and has been accused of trading a commercial cannabis license for a lucrative legal contract. (Bhalla’s office has denied any wrongdoing and said the process went through all the appropriate channels.)
Menendez Jr. highlighted those concerns in a flurry of direct mail and online ads.
Rep. Andy Kim will win the Democratic nomination for Senate in New Jersey, CNN projects, setting him up as the favorite to succeed indicted Sen. Bob Menendez in this deep-blue state.
Kim, a three-term congressman from South Jersey, entered the race in September, the day after Menendez was indicted on bribery and corruption charges. He quickly emerged as the favorite even with New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy launching her campaign later that fall. But in the face of mounting nepotism charges and a grassroots progressive backlash, Murphy dropped out of the race in March.
With Murphy’s exit, Kim appeared to be on a glide path to the Senate in a state that last elected a Republican to the chamber in 1972. Menendez, who is on trial in New York City, announced in March that he would not seek reelection in the Democratic primary. But on Monday, he filed to run as an independent – a move that could make the race more unpredictable, with control of the Senate hanging in the balance. Democrats hold a narrow majority in the chamber but face a difficult landscape this fall.
Awaiting Kim in the general election will be hotel developer Curtis Bashaw, who is projected to win Tuesday’s Republican primary.
A 41-year-old former diplomat and the son of Korean immigrants, Kim was the first Asian American elected to Congress from New Jersey.
His anti-corruption message and the success of his high-profile legal challenge to New Jersey Democrats’ unbalanced ballot design – which favored party machine-backed candidates – quickly made the congressman a hero to progressives.
Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell will fend off a primary challenge in New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District, CNN projects, defeating Mohamed Khairullah, the mayor of Prospect Park, who was critical of the congressman’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Pascrell, 87, first entered Congress in 1997 and had rarely been faced with a serious primary contest. A staunch supporter of Israel for decades, he had long benefited from a place atop the ballot under New Jersey’s arcane “county line” system – which was discarded this year after a court battle.
Khairullah, who is Muslim, made headlines last year after he was turned away from an Eid reception at the White House to mark the end of Ramadan.
During the campaign, he charged Pascrell with turning his back on the district’s Muslim community by failing to respond more forcefully to Israel’s war in Gaza. The district is home to a large population of Palestinian and Jewish voters, which has further elevated the issue. Pascrell in March called for a “conditional ceasefire” but held back in criticizing the Israeli government.
“The scale of suffering in Gaza is ghastly and unacceptable, and my heart aches for those affected,” Pascrell said in a statement at the time. “Only with a ceasefire of hostilities can we provide the robust support and medical care necessary to address this crisis of historic proportion.”
Three months later, the Israeli offensive continues, with humanitarian aid only trickling into the besieged enclave as the civilian death toll rises.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
