U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez and Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla clashed for the first time in a virtual debate hosted by the New Jersey Globe last night as the 8th District congressional primary rapidly approaches.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
On New Jersey and the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University also sponsored the event, with ONJ journalist Laure Jones serving as the moderator.
Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute, along with David Wildstein and Joey Fox, the editor and a reporter for the NJ Globe, respectively, served as panelists who asked questions to the candidates.
“It’s been a challenging couple of months. It’s challenging when you have someone whose going through a difficult set of circumstances, but as you mentioned, there’s the presumption of innocence,” Menendez replied when asked about the federal charges against his father, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ).
“People have the right to mount a full defense for anything they’ve been charged of and that’s something we all believe in and agree upon. And he continues to do the work in the Senate and the decisions he has to make, he will make, and we’re here and we’re focused on our race. We’re here and we’re focused on doing the work of the residents of the 8th Congressional District.”
Bhalla, who called for Senator Menendez to resign shortly after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed his first indictment in September, had a nuanced but still critical response.
” … The congressman is not to blame for what his father is alleged to have done, but I am very concerned as a resident of the 8th District, that the congressman himself is not concerned about the fact that his father’s being accused of being a foreign agent for the government of Egypt,” he replied.
“I think it also concerns me that he doesn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that his father and Donald Trump might have access to classified information while under the cloud of these accusations.”
Bhalla also said Rep. Menendez should have endorsed U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3) for Senate by now, given that the Democrats hold a narrow majority, which will be crucial for endeavors such as codifying Roe vs. Wade.
From there, those that have been following the campaign closely, both competitors remained steadfast to their messages.
The incumbent touted his record of bringing millions of dollars back to the district, especially Hoboken, as well as resolving 1,500 constituent issues, while Bhalla talked about fighting against the political machine, standing up to Trump, and being a proven leader in his city.
In one exchange, Bhalla was critical of Menendez for not coming out against county organizational lines like he did, filing an amicus brief to bolster the federal case spearheaded by Kim (emergency injunctive relief eliminated the line for Democrats in this cycle).
” … We all know it’s inherently undemocratic: Where was Rob Menendez? He was silent, and he’s still silent. I filed an amicus brief in the appellate division to fight to abolish the line, that prevailed because the appellate court said they had a high likelihood of success on the merits,” the mayor stated.
“Where was Rob Menendez? He was silent and the reason he was silent is because he’s part of the party machine that we were trying to reform and make more democratic.”
Menendez noted that Bhalla had told Business Insider that he decided to take on the county line fight once it was no longer “a pie in the sky idea,” with the congressman insisting “that’s not leadership.”
“That’s not the same thing as being on the right side of this issue your entire career because you know you haven’t: You called every single party leader when you decided you wanted to run for this office and you sought the line. That is a fact you admitted to in that same Business Insider article,” Menendez stated.
“There are true individuals who have been fighting for the abolishment of the line. There are people like Tiffanie Fisher and Frank Gilmore in Jersey City: You are not one of those people whose credible on this issue given your hypocrisy on this issue.”
Bhalla said that his opponent still hasn’t called for the abolishment of the line and that “I don’t care if someone named Tiffanie, or anyone else” had called to end the line previously, since he did the work by taking his position to court.
Menendez responded that Bhalla had utilized the line as recently as November when John Allen, his former chief of staff, ran on the Hudson County Democratic Organization line for state Assembly in the 32nd Legislative District instead of incumbent Annette Chaparro.
There was also some discussion on foreign policy, such as when the candidates were asked if Israel had a right to defend themselves in the ongoing fight with terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
“Israel has an absolute right to defend itself. America should support Israel and its right to defend itself and there needs to be unfettered access to humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip. We’re in a situation now where, after October 7th, nothing like that, nothing like that, has happened to the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Bhalla replied.
“That is something that will never, and should never, be forgotten – of course that should never happen again. At the same time, we need to encourage our friends in Israel to exercise restraint in their response to those attacks and we have to be aware of the fact that those responses, at times, have been inconsistent with our values as Americans.”
He also said he’s in favor of a negotiated, brokered ceasefire that includes the release of all hostages and full access to humanitarian aid in Gaza, with the hopes of ultimately reaching a two-state solution.
Menendez agreed that Israel has a right to defend itself, calling them one of America’s “important strategic partners,” which is why he voted in favor of a federal aid package for areas including Gaza.
” … The reality is that no one wants to see what’s happening today occur for one day longer. That’s the reality, we need to continue to work with all of our allies, all of our partners, try to move out of the phase that we’re in so we can start rebuilding towards a future that looks much different than what we’re seeing today,” he said.
“When [Israel Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu said a two-state solution wasn’t a viable option, we spoke out against that and we’ll continue to. We need to build a foundation in which we can develop an idea of what a long-term peaceful solution that’s durable and resilient looks like, that’s incumbent to all of us, and we are committed to that work.”
Additionally, Bhalla said he’d support Medicare for All and Menendez said he’d consider it, with the congressman taking aim at Bhalla’s law license suspensions in New York and New Jersey, to which Bhalla said neither had anything to do with his efforts as an elected official.
This reporter will moderate an in person debate with these two candidates at Hudson Media Group on May 28th at 6 p.m. and the primary election is on June 4th.
Thank you, John, for moderating the upcoming debate. We need to have debates with every election – it’s the democratic way. Voters are entitled to much more than just a lot of meaningless printed flyers cluttering our mailboxes, as usually happens in Hudson County.