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Robert Menendez

Robert Menendez

Democratic · NJ U.S. RepresentativeCandidate 2026

4 years in the U.S. Congress · since 2023

  • background Born January 1, 1954; lawyer
  • background Saint Peter's University (political science); Rutgers Law School
  • role Mayor of Union City (1986); New Jersey Assembly and Senate
  • role U.S. House (NJ-13, 1993–2006) and Senate (2006–2024)
  • role Chaired Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (2013–2015, 2021–2023)
  • controversy Convicted July 2024 on corruption/foreign agent charges; sentenced 11 years; resigned August 2024

Issue positions (15)

Documented + CivicGate vote-derived — stated positions link their source; derived positions come from votes on direction-tagged bills

Campaign finance

2026 cycle

Candidate for U.S. House NJ-08 · 2026 General Election

  • $1,958,766 raised
  • $1,555,715 spent
  • $679,737 cash on hand
$1.96M
$1.86M
$1.13M
Itemized (≥ $200)$1.11M
Unitemized (< $200)$13.34K
Other committees (PACs)$734.49K
Transfers from other committees$83.90K
Offsets to expenditures$3.32K
Other receipts$9.93K
$1.56M
Operating expenditures$1.48M
Contribution refunds$6.71K
Other disbursements$70.24K
Cash on hand$679.74K
Debts owed by committee$0.00

Through June 30, 2026 · FEC

Data from FEC (through Jun 30, 2026)

Finance updated: Jul 23, 2026

Over time

Data from FEC per-cycle campaign finance

Money raised, spent, and cash on hand across every election cycle on record — toggle a series in the legend.

Robert Menendez campaign finance by election cycle
Cycle RaisedSpentCash on hand
2022$1,752,969$1,397,774$355,195
2024$2,384,983$2,463,493$276,686
2026$1,958,766$1,555,715$679,737

Contributions received — 2026 cycle

Data from FEC

Recorded individual contributions in the 2026 cycle: $79,143 ·

Industry PAC support

Data from FEC — PAC (political action committee) contributions, 2024/2022 cycles

Total disclosed PAC money: $1,182,206. Industry is approximated from a curated map; individual (non-PAC) donations are listed separately above.

Top PAC contributors (10)
  • AIPAC PAC $22,900
  • AMALGAMATED TRANSIT UNION - COPE $20,000
  • TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS COMMITTEE $20,000
  • NEA FUND FOR CHILDREN & PUBLIC EDUCATION $20,000
  • MACHINISTS NON PARTISAN POLITICAL LEAGUE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS & AEROSPACE WORKERS $20,000 · Defense
  • LIUNA PAC $20,000
  • CHC BOLD PAC $20,000
  • NEW MILLENNIUM PAC $20,000
  • NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $20,000
  • PAC TO THE FUTURE $15,000

Top contributors (FEC)

Data from FEC, itemized campaign receipts

Top contributors — 2024 cycle

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor's reported employer (FEC Schedule A).

  • Employer not reported $63,050
  • LOWENSTEIN SANDLER LLP $24,050
  • BGR GROUP $13,750
  • URBY $13,300
  • CARELLA BYRNE $13,200
  • BLACKSTONE $13,200
  • LEFRAK $11,400
  • LOWENSTEIN SANDLER $10,900
  • WINNING STRATEGIES WASHINGTON $9,900
  • THE DASCHLE GROUP $9,600

Outside spending on this race

Data from FEC, Schedule E independent expenditures

Independent expenditures are money outside groups (PACs / super-PACs) spend to support or oppose a candidate without coordinating with their campaign. What's this? →

  • 2026 cycle $912,505 supporting · $0 opposing · 3 outside groups
  • 2024 cycle $863,564 supporting · $465,086 opposing · 9 outside groups

See the outside-money leaderboard →

Documented relationships

Documented facts about Menendez, aggregated from public records. A documented relationship is not evidence of wrongdoing — it is context, not a conclusion.

  • Committee oversight & campaign money — health coverage: medium

    Sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees the health sector, and received 15 PAC contributions from health-sector political action committees totaling $40,400 (recent cycles).

    PAC industry is approximated from a curated keyword map, and only members with an FEC candidate id on file are covered — real totals may be higher.

    FEC PAC contributions
  • Committee oversight & campaign money — telecom coverage: medium

    Sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees the telecom sector, and received 10 PAC contributions from telecom-sector political action committees totaling $30,000 (recent cycles).

    PAC industry is approximated from a curated keyword map, and only members with an FEC candidate id on file are covered — real totals may be higher.

    FEC PAC contributions
  • Committee oversight & campaign money — energy coverage: medium

    Sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce — Energy, and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce — Environment, which oversee the energy sector, and received 4 PAC contributions from energy-sector political action committees totaling $5,500 (recent cycles).

    PAC industry is approximated from a curated keyword map, and only members with an FEC candidate id on file are covered — real totals may be higher.

    FEC PAC contributions
  • Committee oversight & campaign money — technology coverage: medium

    Sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce — Communications and Technology, which oversee the technology sector, and received 4 PAC contributions from technology-sector political action committees totaling $4,500 (recent cycles).

    PAC industry is approximated from a curated keyword map, and only members with an FEC candidate id on file are covered — real totals may be higher.

    FEC PAC contributions

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Committee activity

Committee votes cast

Proceedings attended

Congress.gov publishes no attendance list, so this reflects the proceedings whose own record names this member — in an opening statement, an attendance roster or a vote sheet. It is not a complete attendance history.