Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a lifelong Democrat who is in the fourth week of his federal bribery trial, filed paperwork Monday to run for reelection as an independent in November.
Concerns that Menendez, 70, is trying to make a comeback raise the possibility that the Democratic vote will be split in the November election, opening up an opening to Republican candidates at a time when Democrats are struggling to hold on to their slim Senate majority.
Menendez was abandoned by most of the state’s leading Democrats, who called for him to step down soon after he was indicted on corruption charges last year. He has steadfastly refused to step down but chose not to run in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
But he never ruled out running as an independent, which would have allowed him to continue raising funds for his campaign and spending on the lawyers he hired to represent him and his wife, Nadine Menendez, who also faces bribery conspiracy charges.
His trial is expected to continue for at least another month, giving him until mid-August to withdraw from the Nov. 5 election.
Rep. Andy Kim, the leading Democratic candidate to replace Menendez’s seat, was quick to criticize the embattled congressman’s entry into the race as self-serving.
“We all know Bob Menendez is not running for the families of New Jersey,” Kim wrote on social media. “He is running for his own benefit. The American people are tired of politicians putting their own interests above the interests of the state.”
A spokesman for Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and the Senate Democrats’ campaign organization in Washington both declined to comment.
Several Republicans are vying for the U.S. Senate nomination in Tuesday’s primary. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 900,000 in New Jersey, a liberal-leaning state that will elect a Republican to the U.S. Senate for the first time in half a century.
Still, Mike Berg, a spokesman for the Republican national campaign, said the party is “watching New Jersey closely.”
The move puts Menendez’s son, Rep. Rob Menendez, in an awkward position on the eve of his Democratic primary against Hoboken, New Jersey, Mayor Ravi Bhalla.
Rep. Menendez, 38, has sought to distance himself from his father’s legal troubles and has not been accused of wrongdoing. Aides to Menendez did not immediately comment on his plans or how they might affect his son’s chances of seeking a second term in Congress. But the continued public attention on Menendez’s legal troubles is making his son’s reelection fight that much harder.
It’s unclear how the senator will be able to run a successful campaign. He has no paid campaign staff and his campaign funds are dwindling fast. His chief of staff, Jason Teuber, left to take a job as a lobbyist for a New Jersey-based snack manufacturer, and two members of his Senate communications staff quit several months ago. He’s spent at least $3 million of his campaign funds on lawyers defending against charges that he interfered in a New Jersey criminal investigation, steered aid to Egypt, and obstructed justice by disguising bribes as loans.
Polls show that about 75% of New Jerseyans already believe he is guilty of the charges, and the same number disapprove of his performance in the Senate, making it even less likely he would win as an independent.
Several men filed nominating petitions Monday afternoon at the Department of State in Trenton, New Jersey, on behalf of Senator Menendez, who was in the Manhattan courtroom all day.
He has collected 2,465 signatures, three times the minimum required, according to the filing. Opponents have until June 10 to challenge the validity of the signatures.
After Monday’s hearing, Sen. Menendez acknowledged that he collected the signatures himself, reiterated that he believes he will be acquitted, and cited some of the ways he helped New Jerseyans in their time of real need during his time in Congress.
He said he believes the trial is progressing smoothly.
“We are discrediting government witnesses,” he added, answering questions in Spanish from Spanish-speaking reporters, “and we are turning them into witnesses for us, proving our innocence.”
A person familiar with the reelection filing said many of the signatures appear to be from northern Hudson County residents, where the senator grew up and began his political career as mayor of Union City.
In fact, on Friday night he was in Union City, dining at one of his favorite Cuban restaurants, La Gran Via.
“He’s a longtime friend here,” restaurant owner Alfredo Guardado said.
Coincidentally, Brian Stack, the current mayor of Union City and one of Rep. Menendez’s biggest campaign supporters, was also dining there at the same time, Guardado said.
They did not eat together.
Nicholas Fandos, Benjamin Weiser, Erin Nolan and Luis Ferre Sadurni Contributed report.
