Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla Considering Bid Against Rep. Rob Menendez From New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District

Hoboken, New Jersey Mayor Ravi Bhalla is contemplating running against first-term Congressman Rob Menendez from the state’s 8th district. Rob Menendez is the son of embattled U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez.

Rumors of Bhalla’s run began when Menendez senior confirmed that he’d continue to serve in the position he has held since 2006, despite calls from more than a dozen Senate Democrats for him to resign after his indictment last week. Along with his wife, Nadine, the senior lawmaker was charged for allegedly accepting luxury goods and large sums of money in bribes in exchange for committing corrupt acts, including providing sensitive information to the government of Egypt.  The couple pleaded not guilty on Sept. 27 to bribery charges in a federal court in Manhattan. 

The New Jersey Globe report said Bhalla is “making calls to Democratic leaders in the area signaling his interest in running.” If he does enter the race, the Globe notes that “it would set up a competitive and volatile contest in the majority-Hispanic district.”

A former eight-year member of the Hoboken City Council, he made history in 2017, by becoming the first Sikh to hold elected office in New Jersey and the first directly elected Sikh to become mayor in the U.S. In November 2021, he was easily elected to another four-year term, in what is described as an “exceptionally rare uncontested mayoral race.” 

Speculating on Bhalla’s potential run, the Globe notes that even though Bhalla does toe “the organizational line in the 53 percent Hispanic district, there’s no guarantee that local organizations in predominantly Hispanic towns like Union City and North Bergen would support him.”

His spokesperson Rob Horowitz told the Globe that Bhalla, who is “ focused on delivering for the residents of Hoboken,” is also “seriously considering” running for Congress. “If he decides to run, he will be a formidable candidate with the capacity to raise the necessary amount of money to get his message across to 8th district Democratic primary voters.”

According to the Globe, the younger Menendez was first elected last year to the 8th congressional district, represented by his father two decades ago. He had “never held elected office before, and his path to Congress was heavily facilitated by Senator Menendez.” But with his father facing serious legal issues and calls to resign, he “may be in jeopardy of losing his seat after just one term,” the Globe says. “His fate will in large part rest with Democratic Party leaders in Hudson, Essex, and Union Counties, who will determine whether he retains the county organizational line.”

Speculating on Bhalla’s potential run, the Globe notes that even though Bhalla does toe “the organizational line in the 53 percent Hispanic district, there’s no guarantee that local organizations in predominantly Hispanic towns like Union City and North Bergen would support him.” However prospective, his candidacy is “by far the biggest threat to Congressman Menendez’s political future since he entered the race for Congress at the beginning of last year,” the report notes. 

Bhalla first set his roots in Hoboken at the age of 26, “a bachelor fresh out of law school starting his first job at a small law firm in Newark, New Jersey,” according to his profile on his website.

The civil rights attorney raised in Woodland Park earned national recognition in the New York Times for his legal advocacy after suffering a violation of his own constitutional and civil rights during a jail visit to a client. “The incident motivated him to lead a successful campaign to reform the federal government’s visitation policies at correctional facilities nationwide,” his profile said. 

He received his undergraduate education from the University of California at Berkeley, where he received a B.A. in Political Psychology. Upon graduation, he attended the London School of Economics (L.S.E.) in the United Kingdom and received a Master of Science degree in Public Administration and Public Policy, and also earned a Juris Doctor Degree from Tulane Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana.

He and his wife Bindya reside in Hoboken with their two children, Arza Kaur and Shabegh Singh.