After his indictment, Senator Menendez not only declared innocence, but he claimed he's being targeted because of racial bias against Latinos.
He's the first Latino to ever lead the high powered Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he's been a longtime advocate for the community.
Well, despite the stunning corruption allegations against him, it appears many of the supporters in his Latino base say they're disheartened.
But they're stopping short of calling for his resignation.
Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports.
Now, let me just say a few words in Spanish went off the.
Air when Senator Bob Menendez delivered a defiant defense against his recent federal corruption indictment.
He spoke in English and Spanish over decades of political service.
The son of Cuban immigrants never lost his focus on Jersey's Latino constituency, and they've shown unwavering support.
This week, many refused to echo demands from leading Democrats for their favorite son to step down.
From our perspective, any calls for resignation today or, you know, in the last few days are premature.
That's what we think.
Federally, we don't have any representation.
But Bob, at this point.
Right.
So we're obviously not going to jump on the bandwagon of, hey, let's just, you know, ask this person to resign because at the end of the day, it doesn't do our community any good to be fighting each other.
New Jersey's Latino Action Network, along with the Latino Coalition, says their community finds these allegations disturbing and they merit a thorough and fair investigation.
But the accused has stated with some bitterness, it's not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat.
I'm not going anywhere.
That's getting some push back.
I don't see anything today that indicates that this is, you know, ethnically, politically motivated.
Latino advocates say Menendez deserves his day in court, noting the senator's first corruption trial ended in a hung jury.
But this time, the evidence looks damning.
Will a jury believe the senator's assertion that he personally stashed all that cash because of cultural distrust in government?
Maybe my parents, although they make minimum wage, they always keep kept a significant amount of money in their house.
They were distrustful of the banks.
Latinos comprise some 23% of Jersey's population, and an ugly trial carries significant political risk.
You should probably really think about what's in the best interest of the state of New Jersey.
Is that going to be a distraction to him?
You know, and how is that going to affect us?
Nobody is putting their neck on the line for him.
And I think it's a real indication of of how egregious the charges are, how there's really no defending him.
Even among his friends, among Latinos, Latinos who are trying to hold and amass political power, this is a big loss.
Riders Michael Rasmussen points to a new snap poll.
This data not broken down by race or ethnicity showing Menendez with a scant 8% favorable rating in New Jersey versus 74% unfavorable, the rest unsure.
It's from VoteVets, which supports Congressman Andy Kim, who launched a primary challenge against Menendez just hours after the indictment was unsealed.
That's why he's so sad in such a difficult moment for Latinos, because it's bigger than him.
Is is about it their entire community and their issues.
Advocate Patricia Campos medina says those issues run from health equity to housing to immigration and more.
She respects the Menendez legacy and hope she weighs that carefully.
But she sees the challengers lining up.
And we are very carefully positioning the interests of the Latino community as we think about the next ten, 20, 25 years.
She'd like to see a Latina representing New Jersey in Congress.
I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.