Rep. Robert Menendez, Son Of Embattled Senator, Survives Primary Challenge

Freshman Rep. Robert Menendez, whose campaign for a second term was overshadowed by his father’s ongoing bribery trial, is projected to emerge from a contested Democratic primary.

Menendez’s victory Tuesday against Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla virtually guarantees him another term in the solidly Democratic 8th District in northern New Jersey.

Menendez’s race unfolded in the shadow of the federal corruption trial of his father, Sen. Bob Menendez, who pleaded not guilty to charges he accepted gold bars and cash in exchange for helping several businessmen. Sen. Menendez, who is currently on trial, declined to run again as a Democrat but filed to run for reelection this week as an independent.

Rep. Menendez had an easier time winning the primary two years ago based on his father’s political legacy. Two years later, it became a liability.

Bhalla and his super PAC allies tried to tie the younger Menendez to his father’s charges. America’s Promise PAC, a super PAC behind Bhalla, released a commercial declaring the “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Rep. Menendez, the former commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has not been linked to any of his father’s alleged crimes.

Meanwhile, Rep. Andy Kim won the Democratic primary for Sen. Menendez’s seat, setting up a three-way general election between Menendez, Kim, and developer and hotelier Curtis Bashaw. Beshaw, a Republican, beat former President Donald Trump’s pick for the GOP nomination.

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