Robert Jacobsen Menendez Jr. (born July 12, 1985)^[1] is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for New Jersey’s 8th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party and son of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, he was a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from 2021 to 2023.^[2]

Early life and education

Menendez was born and raised in Union City, New Jersey.^[3] He is the son of Robert Menendez, a New Jersey politician and current Senator, and Jane Jacobsen, a public school teacher, school nurse, and guidance counselor.^[4] He is Cuban-American by way of his paternal grandparents who came to the United States in 1953, fleeing the regime of Fulgencio Batista.^[5]

Menendez attended Union City public schools through eighth grade and The Hudson School in Hoboken, New Jersey, for high school, graduating in 2003 from the private school, and later serving on its board of trustees.^[6][7] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School, during which time he was president of the Student Bar Association, served as Notes and Comments Editor for Rutgers Race and the Law Review,^[8] received the Alumni Senior Prize,^[9] and was selected as a Governor’s Executive Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics.^[10]

Early career

Menendez worked as a lawyer with Lowenstein Sandler LLP.^[8]

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

On April 15, 2021, Menendez was nominated to be a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey by Governor Phil Murphy.^[11] He was unanimously confirmed by the New Jersey State Senate on June 3, 2021,^[12] and sworn in on June 4.^[13] Menendez chaired the Governance and Ethics Committee and was a member of the Finance Committee, which oversees the Port Authority’s multi-billion-dollar annual budget.^[14] He resigned as commissioner on January 2, 2023, the day before he joined Congress.^[15]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022

As a member of the Democratic Party, Menendez announced his bid for New Jersey’s 8th congressional district upon the retirement announcement of incumbent representative Albio Sires, who subsequently endorsed Menendez.^[16] His father represented the area before Sires from 1993 to 2006, when it was numbered the 13th congressional district.^[17]

Menendez was endorsed by prominent New Jersey politicians, including New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy,^[18] U.S. Senator Cory Booker,^[19] State Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack,^[10] State Senator and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas J. Sacco,^[20] Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop,^[20] Newark Mayor Ras Baraka,^[21] Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage,^[22] and others.

Menendez campaigned on addressing the needs of working- and middle-class families and the challenges associated with the rising costs of basic necessities such as housing, healthcare, education and family care. He spoke often about infrastructure investments, gun control, and reproductive choice.^[23] Menendez’s campaign expressed support for organized labor and workers rights. He was endorsed by numerous labor unions during his campaign.^[24][25][26]

While running in his own race, Menendez raised and contributed $100,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with the funds directed to Democratic incumbents and challengers running in battleground districts.^[27]

In the primary election, Menendez defeated two challengers, David Ocampo Grajales and Ane Roseborough-Eberhard, with 83.6% of the vote to Grajales’s 11.3% and Roseborough-Eberhard’s 5.1%.^[28] In the general election, Menendez defeated Republican nominee Marcos Arroyo, 73.6% to 23.4%.^[29]

Tenure

As a representative-elect, Menendez was elected by members of the Democratic freshman class to serve as freshman representative on the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee for 2023.^[30] He was appointed to serve as a Regional Whip, a post in which he is responsible for assisting the Democratic Whip operation to track votes.^[31] Menendez is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.^[32]

In 2023, Menendez voted against the expulsion of George Santos, a Republican member of the House of Representatives who faced two federal indictments citing reasons including the lack of a completion of the House Committee on Ethics’ investigation. He later voted to expel Santos after the findings of the investigation were unanimously adopted by the Committee and released. This took place at the same time in which Menendez’s father, Bob Menendez, faced pressure to step down amid a federal indictment.^[33]

Committee assignments

• Transportation and Infrastructure Committee^[34]
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
• Committee on Homeland Security^[35]
  • Subcommittee on Cybersecurity

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Hispanic Caucus^[36]
• House Pro-Choice Caucus
• Congressional Equality Caucus
• Congressional Dads’ Caucus^[37]
• Congressional Labor Caucus
• Congressional Renters Caucus^[38]
• Congressional State and Local Tax (SALT) Caucus^[39]
• House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism

Personal life

Menendez resides in Jersey City, New Jersey. He married Alex Banfich Menendez in 2017.^[40] They have two children.^[41][42]

See also

• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress

References

External links

• Congressman Rob Menendez official U.S. House website
• Rob Menendez for Congress campaign website
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN