Former Jersey City Board of Education President Mussab Ali’s campaign says he’s raised $183,000 in the first quarter of 2026 in his bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8).
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Mussab is a once-in-a-generation political leader,” Ali for Congress campaign manager Manny Antunes said in a statement.
“While the incumbent has dodged his constituents and avoided questions about his inability to stand up to Donald Trump and his new forever wars, Mussab is speaking directly to the people—and the people are speaking back.”
Noting that Ali raised more in March than January and February combined, his campaign also emphasized that he did not take any corporate PAC money, unlike Menendez.
“New Jerseyans are tired of the same old corporate-driven politics that voters have become all too familiar with. Our tax dollars should fund schools and hospitals here at home, not endless violence abroad against Iran and the people of Gaza,” Ali added.
Campaign reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) have not been made public yet and Ali’s team did not immediately provide a copy of the report when it was requested Thursday morning.
At the end of 2025, Menendez had $709,243.29 cash on hand, prior FEC filings show. The incumbent has not yet shown his hand about his 2026 fundraising.
He is favored given endorsements from the likes of U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ), Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, state Senator (D-33)/Union City Mayor Brian Stack, along with several labor unions, along with the fact that the race has drawn little national interest to date.
The winner of the June 2nd Democratic primary will be able to relax for the rest of 2026, at least from an electoral standpoint, given that there is no Republican candidate in CD-8 this time around.
Wait. Joe Branco isn’t running on the GOP ticket??
Vote for the crook.