Three days after a historic guilty verdict, we're still learning about the fallout from Senator Bob Menendez.

This conviction as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demand he stepped down and planned his expulsion.

The mood isn't any better in his hometown of Union City.

The senator made a name for himself coming up through Union City and Hudson County politics.

But now even his fiercest supporters say it's time for him to go.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan spoke to people in Union City about the verdict and what it means for his legacy.

And Union City.

A salsa tune shimmied along Bergen Line Avenue in Union City this morning, where seven in ten residents claim Latino ancestry.

But folks in Bob Menendez, his hometown, don't feel much like dancing after a jury found their favorite son guilty on all 16 counts, including bribery and extortion.

This guilty?

Yes, Guilty.

Should he resign?

If he did the crime?

I guess so.

He need to go.

Why?

Because we cannot believe anymore in him.

I am Hispanic, but I don't believe any more than him.

So how do you feel about the sad?

I feel bad.

Yes.

I always thought he was really good.

And now I'll find out.

You take a.

Look across the street at Menendez, a favorite restaurant, La Grande Villa.

Staff brewed coffee and the senator's favorite table sat empty.

Patron Milton Works voted for Menendez, overlooked the senator's first corruption trial, which ended in a hung jury.

But he called this conviction a bridge too far.

He was in a very powerful position with a lot of influence that could certainly be beneficial to New Jersey.

But but I think that was misused in a big way.

So in light of all those things, I just think that it's time to try somebody else.

Menendez Faces Decades in prison.

Sentencing scheduled for October 29th.

It's a precipitous fall from grace for a man who seemed destined to rise above Hudson County's dirty politics.

Let me proudly introduce to you the next senator to the great state of New Jersey.

Welcome to Bess.

42.

Here we have what we have.

We need someone that's going to fight for the little people.

His potential just seemed enormous, and things seemed so wonderful and the future was boundless.

And, you know, he was a real symbol of empowerment for the Latino communities.

And so to have it come crashing down like that a few days ago was very painful for me.

Frank Argo Freyre worked as a press secretary for then-Congressman Menendez in the 1990s.

He recalled how the son of Cuban immigrants fought corruption, testified against his mentor, Union City Mayor Bill Musto, who was convicted of bribery.

Menendez knew the score.

When you travel outside of this immediate area, everybody does think that Union City is a laughing stock because of all the things that have happened.

You see a boyish looking young man fighting corruption.

These are, you know, someone who is going to change the system.

And, you know, it looks like the system changed him.

And the Menendez conviction, press charges.

Turnover forcing Hudson County's fearsome political machine into transition.

I think it basically means we're turning the page on the old guard at Hudson is not what it used to be.

And they're going to have to start getting a badge.

They're going to have to start, you know, having new stars, if you will, come into play.

Menendez has vowed to appeal to run as an independent.

One resident said he should.

At this point, though, he can resign and have no chance or he can choose to say, you know what, I'm going to give it all.

And I think that it will make a difference.

But for now, Menendez is fighting to keep his freedom.

He could win an appeal, but he's irrevocably lost the trust of folks who thought they knew him best in Union City, I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ.

Spotlight News.