Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8) easily defeated former Jersey City Board of Education President Mussab Ali in Tuesday’s Democratic Primary to win election to a third term in the United States House of Representatives. With nearly 98-percent of the votes tabulated, Menendez had more than 68-percent of the vote.
As in his first two Congressional runs, Menendez had the support of the Hudson County Democratic Organization. With the 8th District encompassing parts of three counties, Menendez received endorsements from Governor Mikie Sherrill, Union City Mayor and State Senator Brian Stack and United States Senator Andy Kim.
In addition, Menendez had tremendous support from labor unions, including 32BJ SEIU, the Hudson County Building Trades Council and from the state’s educators, the New Jersey Education Association.
The District includes all of Elizabeth in Union County and a section of Newark in Essex County, where Mayor Ras Baraka lent his support. Ali did not do well in either city, losing by margins of more than 2 to1.
There was no Republican nominee in District 8. Come the November 3rd general election, Menendez should have an easy road to retaining his Congressional seat, as he will face independent Aristotle Eliopoulos, a teacher in Jersey City.
In the other two, Democratic Primary Congressional races in Hudson County, Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-10), who represents portions of Jersey City, was also re-elected. She easily defeated Lawrence Poster with nearly 78-percent of the vote. McIver will face Republican Carmen Bucco, who ran unopposed. In District 9, Congresswoman Nellie Pou, who represents a small portion of western Hudson County plus Passaic County, ran unopposed. She will likely take on Republican Rosie Pino, who led Tiffany Burress by 9-percentage points in Hudson County with more than 97-percent of districts reporting.