U. S. Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J.  (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

The VOXXI editorial board today said New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez deserves a second term, opting not to back the Republican challenger and state Sen. Joe Kryrillos.

Bob Menendez is the clear choice for New Jersey. He is a champion for working families and the Hispanic community in the United States Senate. Because of his commitment to improve the lives of working families in New Jersey and help Hispanics across the country, he deserves to be re-elected to continue fighting for the next six years.

VOXXI’s editorial page makes its decision independent from the news department, and evaluated Sen. Menendez economic policies and his track record with the Hispanic population.

New Jersey is well-served by Senator Menendez.

At the forefront of Hispanic issues, Senator Menendez’s efforts to pass the DREAM Act—including his work to ensure our country adopts a comprehensive immigration reform plan that is realistic and deals with our country’s undocumented population, has demonstrated his commitment to fight for Hispanics.

The opponent Kyrillos has shown the contrary. When he had an opportunity he voted against raising the minimum wage and then voted for tax breaks for millionaire. He also cut funding for education.

“Identifying Kyrillos position on Hispanic issues is almost impossible,” the editorial added.

Sen. Bob Menendez fights for middle-class families

The VOXXI editorial board highlighted that Bob Menendez’s re-election race focuses on his fight to help working families make it into the middle-class. He supports preserving and protecting Medicare and Social Security for seniors. In addition, he continues to support men and women in uniform and veterans.

Menendez has been working to grow the economy and working to give tax breaks to middle class families. Part of Bob Menendez’s track record includes that he’s voted for middle-class tax cuts, tax credits to pay for college tuition and spearheaded an effort to keep two million New Jersey residents from being subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Also, Senator Menendez created the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program as part of the 2007 energy bill, which provided $3.2 billion to build new green energy projects, created jobs and lowered municipal energy bills, including over $70 million in grants for New Jersey communities.

The N.J. Senator also helped lead the fight to extend solar tax credits until 2016, a cornerstone of a continued vibrant solar industry in New Jersey, which has the second largest solar market in the country.

Besides that, Senator Menendez is known across the state of New Jersey and across the country as a champion who fights and stands up for the issues that matter most to Hispanics.

He is the son of immigrants—a seamstress and a carpenter. He knows firsthand about the struggles to pay for college and he could not have done so without Pell Grants. He continues to make a college education more affordable.

He specifically works to defend the interest of the Dominican and Puerto Rican communities.

In different interviews with VOXXI, the Puerto Rican politicians who have been closest to Menendez only had great things to say about the senator from New Jersey. They described the relationship between the senator and Puerto Rico as a deep relationship that has spanned many years.

“There is no doubt that the senator that knew the most about Puerto Rico was Ted Kennedy,” said Sen. Eduardo Bhatia, the current minority whip in the Puerto Rican Senate and former head of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington. “Once [Kennedy] passed away, Bob Menendez became the most knowledgeable senator in regards to Puerto Rico, the one that deals and pays most attention to Puerto Rican issues.”

Before arriving in the Senate, Bob Menendez—who is currently the highest-ranking Hispanic there—represented New Jersey’s 13th Congressional district in the House. When Sen. Jon Corzine left the Senate and became governor of New Jersey in 2006, Menendez was appointed to his seat, and he remains there today.

The Senate confirmation of Mari Carmen Aponte as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador was another big mark for Menendez after a bitter battle among several senators prolonged over the last six months.

Leading the fight was Sen. Menendez, who finally convinced Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to work with him behind the scenes to support the Washington lawyer and Latino activist, a recess nominee of President Barack Obama who served as ambassador in San Salvador from September 2010 to December 2011.

In contrast to Rubio’s original heavy opposition, Sen. Menendez gave his full support to Aponte from the beginning. Menendez persuaded his Democrat colleagues in the Senate and the White House to maintain the vigil for Aponte as a show of strength of the Latino leadership.

With Aponte’s confirmation, Menendez has not only proven that he has enormous influence in Washington, but that he can be seen as a champion for Latino rights and issues.

And the most influential Hispanic politician in Washington.