as the Senator's guilt or innocence lies in the hands of 12 jurors questions are now arising about the future of his political career and how he'll be remembered analysts tell us regardless of the verdict this is likely the end of a decorated but controversial 50-year political career senior political correspondent David Cruz spoke to political Advocates and analysts about what the verdict means for Senator menendez's Legacy and the future of New Jersey politics for Senator bobman andz Steely as ever through this long trial the votes are just starting to be counted in what amounts to the final election of his career menendez's guilt or innocence is in the hands of 12 jurors now but for anyone who's watched the senior senator's 30-year career it's clear that this is the end Frank fra of the Latino Action Network was a top Menendez Aid in the early days well I'm filled with sadness about it David because uh as you remember you know Menendez was in that era when I worked with him as his press secretary which would have been from 1993 to 1996 he was a real symbol of political empowerment for the Latino communities and uh you know there was you know the sky seemed to be the limit as to his potential a first for Latinos as mayor of Union City assembly state senator congressman and finally US senator head of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee along the way becoming a leading voice on issues as varied as immigration and labor to Banking and international Commerce but ending as a confirmation of a jersey cliche former US Senate candidate Patricia campus Medina was a longtime Ally It's almost like a bad de NOA to be honest yeah yeah for those of us who work with him for a long time on critical issues for New Jersey uh for workers for immigrants for Latinos it's uh it's been there's a lot of sadness uh in the community to see him be in a place where his legacy um is starish we we were proud of him how he ascended from nothing how he did it through grit and so we saw ourselves in his ability to be a leader for the community but that feeling is not Universal State Republican chairman Bob hugan spent almost $40 million in 2018 to try to unseat Menendez in a bloody battle there's some lingering bitterness in his reaction to the trial throwing your wife under the bus where you've done gold bars hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash it's it's just so sorted it's hard to even talk about and the inside stories you hear about him smoking cigars and being a big big shot in Washington DC and the arrogance was going on for a long time publicly there's no coming back from this publicly this is this is the end of the line for him um he will serve out his term I don't think he's resigning I don't think he's going anywhere even if there's a conviction um I think he's going to ride off into the sunset and for Latinos in New Jersey particularly that's not a happy ending how much time um is it going to take to recover the potency of his influence we knew that he leaving will leave a void of about 20 years um before we can get back to having the top uh leader um in the Congressional Delegation in Spanish there's a word for it Theo that translates to wasted which whether he's found guilty or not is what those who championed Bob Menendez for years are feeling about his legacy today I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight News [Music]