the political Fallout from us Senator Bob menendez's indictment is far from over Hoboken mayor Ravi Bhalla today announced he'll challenge the Senator's son Congressman Rob Menendez Jr for the eighth District's house seat in June's Democratic primary The Showdown is largely seen as a test for the younger Menendez and whether his political career will be upended by his father's criminal corruption charges it also sets up a messy situation for Hudson County Democrats they pulled support for Senator Menendez following his indictment but recently endorsed his son's re-election bid Bhalla is now the second candidate to announce a run for the seat but his two terms in the mayor's office may give him a leg up over other opponents senior political correspondent David Cruz reports this is a story about a jersey kid who grew up not looking like all the other jersey kids Ravi Bhalla is a bit of a trailblazer there are not a lot of seeks even running for office in New Jersey but the two-time mayor and councilman has thrived politically in Hoboken a town that can be tough on any newcomer let alone one who wears a turban called it the star but balas run for Congress is going to take him into a whole other place battling the vaed Hudson County Democratic organization which is firmly behind incumbent Rob Menendez this race is not about political endorsements it's about the endorsement of the people who vote in June and we intend to get our message directly out to the voters of the voters of the district okay but the political reality is that the eighth District based primarily in Hudson County is a party stronghold and the party has come out in support of Menendez the son of the embattled senator who's inherited his father's talent for pointed barbs as evidenced by this tart retort to bala's announcement today I welcome Ravi Bhalla into the race especially since he can validate the work we've done on behalf of the residents of Hoboken said the statement adding it seems the only reason Ravi has entered the race after endorsing me in 2022 is because a week after losing control of the city council he sees no political future for himself in Hoboken you seem really intent on not uttering the words Rob Menendez or acknowledging that Rob uh Menendez uh even exists he's the he's the incumbent what is it that he has done or hasn't done that moves you to want to challenge him into primary well he was it's no secret that he was anointed uh to the US Congress with no prior uh history as an elected official um and he's only served for about 11 months in the US Congress I think that draws a sharp contrast and his father well you know the gold bars and the money something Bala alludes to in his announcement video but the fact is that organization support and the money and the boots on the ground that come with it are going to be hard to beat but some experts think Bala might be able to challenge that he's got half a million dollars that he's raised for this race in a very short amount of time um he's got name recognition he's got a town behind him or or or so he would hope right and so um you know these are some of the ingredients that it takes to really find out is is the line really what makes the difference here or do you need a well financed Challenge and a well organized challenge to the line um we're going to we're gonna kind of see what the power of the line really is here if mayor Balor were to pull this thing off and he were to actually defeat the incumbent in a presidential year I mean at that point you might as well light the line on fire and throw it in the garbage so to speak because if you can't win with those kind of odds I mean I don't know what good the line is at that point the mild mannered Bhalla who's been through his share of political B battles in Hoboken and around Hudson County will need to take the gloves off and get ready for a street fight against an opponent who's new to the game but intent on throwing Haymakers I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight News