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♪ Welcome to "chat box," we will turn our attention to a high profile battle, we are in the eighth congressional district where incumbent, Rob Menendez is seeking his first reelection.

He is facing a challenge from fellow Democrat.

we will talk to both men today.

We begin with Congressman Rob Menendez who joins us.

Good to see you again.

This is the district.

>> we are just across the street on the east board, the two parts of Newark where we have the honor of representing.

David: you are in one of the most unique legal situations I can recall.

We have to unpack a little bit of that.

First, a challenge made by your opponent that you are in your seat because your father, who used to have this seat when it was the 13th congressional district, he essentially handed it to you.

Is that fair?

>> we have heard that for years, since we were first elected in 2022.

We have a track record.

You look at the work we put in in our first year building the team we have built in the district, the work we have done solving cases for 1100 families in the district gone to work in Washington.

We are proud of the work we have done.

We have dedicated ourselves to this role, and that is what we will be judged on.

Anybody want to talk about anything else is losing fact that we have gone to work every day.

David: there are rumbles after you came out in support of Senator Menendez after his indictment.

The Hudson democratic organization might not end up supporting you.

How did you wrangle your way into their good graces?

Rep. Menendez: it goes back to undercutting the first question and the charges levied against me.

We have deep relationships in the community with elected officials.

Mayor Turner and I have known each other for a long time.

My friends across the map have seen me go to work, and they trust me to deliver for the district and their constituents.

We need every level of government working together.

We need to local elected and state elected's and federal to work together.

They trust me and want me to continue that work.

David: granted all of those things but there was a point where there was talk of they were going to dump you.

Did anybody come to you and say why should we support you?

From the infrastructure of the organization.

Rep. Menendez: we had a lot of candid conversations and how we will run the election, and we will do that based on the work we have done and inroads we have made.

Ultimately, when people have the opportunity to ask whatever the questions they want, I am an open book.

We had those conversations, and you see were the support is.

David: we will ask the mayor this when he comes on, I think I know your answer, but where are you on the idea of abolishing the party line?

Rep. Menendez: a bunch of my friends who I went to law school with Newark are attorneys bringing that case.

People have different views, and my view is I will engage the organizations.

I appreciate their support based on relationships I have had for years.

I believe in building things.

For the folks who want to challenge and have a different view, that is fine.

If you look at people from Andy to Sue, they are competing for county lines.

I am focused on living with this environment and building the support we can.

And ultimately I focus on the landscape as it is today and working within it.

David: it would not break you up if they abolished the party line?

Rep. Menendez: I would run in any environment under any conditions.

Anything they want to change, what I'm presenting to the people is my vision.

That will work every day on the ballot, the process, all of that, I will make it work because I will present my results for the constituents, and that will be what resonates with voters.

Sometimes we put a little too much emphasis on the ballot design and not the support that comes with it, the mayors and committee people, municipal chairs will go to work for the people they believe Candace -- can deliver results.

That is part of it.

Those relationships are meaningful, and drive results.

David: it is a political process that happens to be the process that you are dealing with now.

The senator, I do not want to be leader -- I do not want to belabor this too much, but you are the only one in the congressional delegation who has not called on Senator Menendez to resign.

Can we safely say that is your dad, and what else can we expect?

Or is there some other rationale?

Rep. Menendez: it is my father.

We were talking about being from Hudson County, you stick with your people.

Everybody deserves their shot in court to present their case.

We should reserve judgment of people, not just people who are your family members but everyone.

We talk a lot about it, something I believe in.

David: can you talk a little bit about it, about what the conversations were like when all of this was happening?

Rep. Menendez: yes, it was a fast evolving process.

At the end of the day, we wear a lot of hats but in a situation with family members going through a challenge, you support them.

A lot of conversations I have had with folks, they understood that.

From people that took a different position, we had better -- when we had conversations, they understood where I was coming from.

David: we started at the beginning by saying you ain't him.

Rep. Menendez: we are two different people.

We have different views about things.

The drive for public service is something I have learned from him and my mom, who is an educator.

I'm fortunate to have been around people who want to give back to the community, that has caused me to choose this profession.

David: the migrant crisis, buses stopping in Newark and migrants going on to New York City, but some staying here as well.

We saw this letter assigned by Governor Murphy calling on the federal government to lend financial assistance to states like New Jersey, who may feel the impact of migrants here.

If the federal government were to allocate funds to New Jersey to house and provide services for migrants, would you be supportive of those services being provided here in New Jersey?

Rep. Menendez: yes, when the crisis comes to our doorstep, we have to deal with it.

You have to zoom back.

It is the federal government's obligation to come up with solutions to the challenges we are facing.

Migration is a global challenge right now.

We see it at the southern border .

Democrats are ready to deal with it.

Republicans see it as a political opportunity that they can use as a political foil on the president.

I sit on Homeland Security, and what we see is a constant attempt to politicize the border.

You see Former President Trump convincing Senate Republicans not to enter a deal on the supplemental around the border because he wants to have it is an issue to drive a wedge in demographics across the country leading up to November.

That is a lost opportunity for our country because we are a nation of immigrants.

This district, over 40% of the people were born outside of the country.

If we harness the energy of people who want to come here to something positive, we win the future.

That is a conversation I want to have.

In the interim we are dealing with a broken system.

I was visiting the detention center, part of a broken system.

We will keep dealing with broken things until we fix it.

I would love to do that work.

David: this is a state issue, I am running out of time but we are two blocks from Penn Station.

You live in Jersey City, another transportation center.

Mass transit runs this area of the state particularly, and so we saw New Jersey transit this week propose a 15% fare increase, and 3% every year thereafter.

Do you support fare increases, and do you agree with progressives who say the corporate business tax surcharge is something that should be reinstated as a way to fund transit.

Rep. Menendez: as you mentioned, state issue, I urge state legislators to find other sources of revenue aside from raising fares.

That should be the last resort because it goes on the backs of working individuals.

Down in Washington we have asked this to Secretary Buttigieg.

We have modified schedules where people are not going in like 2019 and before.

You see local transit agencies challenged because they do not have the same ridership when people were going to the office five days a week.

It is a unique time but we should have a whole government approach about how do we provide world-class service and invest in infrastructure, make sure people are having a better experience without putting the financial burden on the individual.

The federal government has a role to support state transit agencies.

We need to work together because the result cannot be the person who has a 5:00 a.m. shift in New York who is leaving Elizabeth to get there has no service.

It is incumbent on us to figure it out.

David: does working together include reinstating the corporate business tax surcharge?

Rep. Menendez: that is something the state legislature should be open to.

We need a long-term solution, a 15% hike and 3% year increase falls on the rider.

They have more options as to whether they go into work.

Not everyone.

Not everyone has the option of working from home.

It is tough for NJ transit, but when they are making these decisions, the people and concerned about the most are those who do not have another option.

It comes out of their pocket in an already difficult situation.

That is why we have to be mindful and use it as an option of a last resort.

I would love the state to consider other options to drive down the increase from 15%, which is significant.

David: Congressman Rob Menendez, thank you.

The Hoboken Mayor joins us now.

>> thank you for having me.

David: I want to start with your rationale.

What do you have against the Congressman who has served the district for just about a year?

Hasn't he done all right by Hoboken?

>> we have had a process of not elections but selections, so it is not about whether or not somebody is doing great or not but finding the best quality candidate, and having a choice in the districts.

We have not had a choice in decades for this congressional seat.

It has been anointed by political party bosses, and as the first time you will see where you will have a contrast between someone given a congressional seat by his father , and somebody who has an earned record of accomplishments by serving as the mayor of a city for six years and on the city Council for eight years.

David: this has been a seat that has been thusly handed down since the father of the current Congressman gave up his seat.

The successor was anointed, and I use air quotes, why have you not fought the system before?

Mayor Bhalla: this is not 16th-century England where people are anointed, and they get passed down through generations to families after families.

This is a democracy, where people should have a choice.

This is where people should have the ability to judge people based on merit and qualifications.

That is what this candidacy is all about.

Why didn't I run before?

I wanted to build up a track record, unlike my opponent.

I expect to bring my experiences and accomplishments to Washington.

David: does being the son of an indicted Senator disqualify Rob Menendez from serving?

Mayor Bhalla: it certainly does not disqualify him.

But I think there is a sharp contrast to be drawn between the nepotism that got him that seat, and the earned accomplishments that I think give me standing to run and serve in Congress with a record of accomplishments.

There is a sharp contrast to be drawn.

David: for context, did you support Rob Menendez in his initial run?

Mayor Bhalla: I did not have a choice, that is the way the system runs.

You are given a candidate, and you do not have a choice.

At that point I did not have the resources to get my name out.

We all had to get behind Rob.

David: you said you did not have a choice.

You are up against the entire Hudson County Democratic organization.

You have benefited from that relationship and all that is entailed in that in the past.

I know the answer to this but I ask the other guy too.

Do you support this suit in the courts to abolish the party line?

Mayor Bhalla: the party line is something that in its application is antidemocratic.

It creates a disadvantage for people not supported by a well-funded apparatus.

And if that party line were to be changed around the rest of the country, you would have a much more democratic system where people would have the opportunity to run and qualifications, not on the strength and resources of the machine that is not democratic because it is selected by a few select party bosses.

What makes this race different is we do not have that dynamic.

A well-funded candidate with a track record of experience and the ability to get my record out directly to the voters.

Voters will have a real choice.

This is historic.

Voters will have a real choice, a qualified candidate, and a candidate anointed by the influence of his corrupt father.

David: that is yes, you would support abolishing the party line?

Mayor Bhalla: given the choice, yes.

David: who are you supporting for U.S. Senate?

Mayor Bhalla: I think there are a couple of strong candidates, but my focus is on the eighth congressional district.

I have just announced my campaign in mid-December, and we are just at the phase of getting my message out to voters, to introducing myself to voters.

I was born and raised in New Jersey, I am a product of immigrant parents who came to this country.

When they came to this country, they lived in a trailer park.

They are the embodiment of the American dream.

The Senate candidate, the Senate race is not at the top of my radar.

There are qualified options at that level, but I want to make sure we get our message out to voters, and march out to June 4.

David: shouldn't voters know where you stand on that?

Mayor Bhalla: in due course we will develop a position on where we -- I'm not running for Senate, I'm running for Congress.

David: let's talk about the migrant crises threatening to impact New Jersey.

We saw buses coming into transit centers.

Would you support the federal government sending aid to states like New Jersey to help house or provide services to migrants in state?

Mayor Bhalla: not only what I support that, but we cannot as a city in Hoboken, and other cities, other mayors are confronting this same problem, despite the fact we are a welcoming city.

We want to bring in migrants, because that is the spirit of America.

We need that resources to do so, and I feel the federal government has fallen short in that regard.

A lot of communities say they are pro-immigration but when this comes to their doorstep, all of a sudden migrants are not welcome.

I find that problematic.

I will say migrants are completely welcome in the city of Hoboken.

We will do all we can by way of resources, but our resources are limited.

Our shelters are at capacity.

There are concrete things the federal government needs to do to step up to provide cities and the state of New Jersey with the necessary resources to accommodate the possible influx of migrants.

David: we saw suggestions, the Atlantic City facility as potential sites to provide services and housing for migrants.

Would you support some kind of initiative like that?

Mayor Bhalla: we would defer to the state of New Jersey.

They have been excellent partners.

This is a city-state partnership with the governor's office.

If there are facilities the state will provide, the city, cities like Hoboken, Newark, Secaucus -- I believe they can provide temporary measures, but when it comes to housing, those measures that are being set up at the state level will not become necessary, but if they do , it will be valuable.

David: the courts stopped the Biden administration from forgiving student loan debt.

Thousands of students, probably in this district alone, are being crushed by student loan debt.

What recommendations can you bring to Congress to provide some relief?

Mayor Bhalla: this is a huge issue in the eighth congressional district.

We have many students and young people who are being crushed by student loan debt, and that is related to a larger issue of affordability for this next generation of young people in the eighth District and New Jersey and the nation as a whole.

The cancellation of student loan debt is very concerning, and it is in the context of larger affordability crisis that we have to take head-on as a country.

David: affordability first, or debt resolution first?

Mayor Bhalla: I think they go hand in hand.

You need to make sure debt resolution is with affordability but there are other aspects related to affordability and affordable housing, homeownership that this generation does not have the same opportunities.

David: mass transit is critical to your city, a proposed 50% increase fare, then 3% a year to infinity.

Are they fixing their deficit on the backs of riders when corporations, a big part of your district benefit from mass transit.

They just had a billion-dollar tax cut.

Are you OK with these fare hikes, and do they represent solutions to the transit issues?

Mayor Bhalla: I vehemently oppose the fare hikes because they are putting the burden squarely on the back of working-class families.

In this district and other parts of New Jersey David: -- sorry to interrupt, I want to see if you support the reinstatement of the corporate business tax surcharge as a way to fully fund transit?

Mayor Bhalla: absolutely.

That is a mechanism absolutely necessary to fully fund New Jersey transit.

David: Hoboken Mayor, Ravi Bhalla.

That is "Chat Box" this week.

You can follow me on X, and see full content when you scan the QR code on your screen.

I'm David Cruz.

For the entire crew here at Gateway Center in downtown Newark, thank you for watching.

Announcer: Major funding for "Chat Box with David Cruz" is provided by the members of the New Jersey education Association, making public schools great for every child.

Promotional support is provided by Insider NJ, a political intelligence network dedicated to New Jersey's political news.

Insider NJ is committed to giving serious political players an interactive forum for ideas, discussion, and insight.

Online at insiderNJ.com.

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