Progressive Patricia Campos Medina launches New Jersey Senate bid for Menendez seat

A progressive New Jersey Democrat announced Wednesday she is running for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who is embroiled in federal corruption allegations.

“My name is Patricia Campos Medina and I am running for the U.S. Senate because New Jersey needs a proven and experienced leader in DC, one who understands the challenges and dreams of every day New Jerseyans and is ready to fight for our future,” she posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, along with a video detailing her life.

In the video, Campos Medina said she immigrated to the United States as a teenager and worked hard to learn a new language and get an education that has allowed her “to give back to this country that has given me so much.” At 16, she said, she worked in fast food restaurants to help pay family bills.

She said she is a graduate of Cornell and Rutgers universities.

Campos Medina said her parents worked hard as hotel housekeepers, office cleaners and restaurant workers to provide for her. She currently serves as the executive director of the Worker Institute at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations school, according to her personal website.

Campos Media said she is running for the Senate because she wants to “make sure all our children had the same opportunity I had.” As a union and community organizer, she said she has advanced living wage protections, reproductive freedom, paid leave and affordable health care.

She is running for the seat currently held by Menendez, who has not yet announced if he is running for reelection.

Menendez, who has represented New Jersey in the Senate since 2006, was indicted in September along with his wife and three businessmen on charges of bribery. Prosecutors allege Menendez accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars, including gold bars, a luxury car and a mortgage on their home, in bribes for trying to interfere with criminal investigations and advocating on behalf of the Egyptian government’s interests.

He was accused in a second superseding indictment Tuesday of accepting gifts from the Qatari government and for helping a New Jersey real estate developer obtain millions in investment funds.

Menendez has not stepped down amid calls from fellow Senate Democrats and state party leaders to do so.

Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) launched a campaign in November in what is shaping up to be a crowded primary for the seat.