Did he finally see the writing on the wall? Hard to say. Throughout the latest chapter in his criminal entanglements, New Jersey Democrat Senator Bob Menendez has remained defiant, maintaining his innocence, refusing to resign the Senate seat he’s held since 2006, and, in fact, continuing to run for reelection, even switching to run as an Independent. But now, it seems the 70-year-old has finally decided to throw in the towel.
Menendez filed to run as an independent in June while his trial was underway, looking to keep his options open pending the outcome. He was convicted six weeks later and announced he would resign effective Tuesday.
Still, his continued candidacy as an independent raised the possibility that he could complicate the race between the major-party nominees, Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw. Friday was the deadline for Menendez to withdraw as an independent candidate.
The New Jersey Division of Elections received an email Friday afternoon from Menendez asking to be removed from the ballot.
“By means of this email please be advised that as an Independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in November’s election I am advising you that I wish to have my name withdrawn from the ballot,” Menendez wrote to the division’s acting director.
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Menendez’s months-long federal trial on corruption charges in the Southern District of New York ought to have been sensational in its own right — a sitting U.S. senator, one with powerful committee positions, standing trial for corruption, bribery, extortion, acting as a foreign agent, obstruction of justice. But the Menendez trial, which began in mid-May and ended in mid-July with a guilty verdict on all 16 counts, was largely overshadowed by the Manhattan trial of former President Donald Trump over falsified business records and the Delaware trial of First Son Hunter Biden on federal weapons charges.
Menendez, who’s scheduled to be sentenced on October 29, will officially resign Tuesday, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) is expected to appoint George Helmy, his former chief of staff, to fill the seat.
