Robert "Bob" Menendez (born January 1, 1954) is the junior United States Senator from New Jersey and a member of the Democratic Party. In January 2006, he was appointed by Jon Corzine to fill the seat made vacant by Corzine's resignation from the Senate to serve as Governor of New Jersey; Menendez subsequently won the seat in the November 7 general election later that year. Before his appointment to the Senate, he represented New Jersey's 13th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2006. He currently resides in Hoboken. He is the first person of Hispanic ethnicity to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate.

After the 2008 elections, Menendez was appointed to head the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Menendez was born in New York City to Cuban immigrants Evangelina and Mario Menendez. Fleeing Cuba in 1953 due to their dislike of the Batista government, his parents came to New York. His father was a mechanic and his mother was a seamstress. He grew up in Union City, New Jersey, where he graduated from Union Hill High School.