PERSON: Robert Menendez / Bob Menendez

Senator

Robert “Bob” Menendez (born January 1, 1954) is an American politician and the junior United States senator from New Jersey, serving since 2006. Menendez, a member of the Democratic Party, is the current chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Born in New York City, Menendez is the graduate of Saint Peter’s University and Rutgers School of Law in Newark. In 1974 at the age of 20, he was elected to the Union City Board of Education and was elected mayor of Union City in 1986. While he was mayor, he simultaneously served in the New Jersey Legislature from 1988 to 1992. Menendez resigned from both positions when he was appointed to the New Jersey Senate after State Senator Christopher Jackman died. He represented New Jersey’s 33rd District from 1992 to 1993. In 1992 Menendez ran for the United States House of Representatives, defeating New Jersey Superior Court Judge Frederick J. Theemling, Jr. In the general elected; he was elected to six terms, representing New Jersey’s 13th congressional district from 1993 to 2006.

In January 2006, he was appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jon Corzine who was elected governor of New Jersey. Menendez was elected to a full six-year term in the 2006 U.S. Senate election and was re-elected in 2012.

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