CV NEWS FEED // Scandal-plagued Sen. Bob Menendez, D-NJ, on Monday filed to run for reelection as an independent.
Observers say the stunning move may put a usually safe Democratic seat in play, improving Republicans’ chances of retaking the upper chamber.
Despite filing as an independent, the lawmaker remains a member of the Democratic Party. His decision came the day before both parties held their Senate primary elections in New Jersey.
Menendez has served in the Senate since 2006. In September of last year, he and his wife Nadine were indicted on federal bribery charges.
POLITICO reported: “The Menendezes are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for doing favors for several businesspeople and the Egyptian and Qatari governments.”
FOX News noted: “After much speculation over whether Menendez would run for re-election … he revealed in March that he would not be filing for the Democrat Senate primary.”
“Instead, Menendez announced at the same time his desire to run as an independent if he is exonerated during his summer trial,” FOX added.
The Menedezes’ trial began last month. Both the senator and his wife pleaded not guilty.
>> SEPTEMBER 2023: MENENDEZ INDICTED FOR BRIBERY <<
“It has been an honor of a lifetime to represent you in the United States Senate,” the embattled lawmaker said via a statement delivered in March. “It is the promise of America fulfilled.”
“It’s that history and that promise for the future that I would want to bring to a reelection for the United States Senate,” he continued:
Unfortunately, the present accusations I am facing of which I am innocent, and will prove so, will not allow me to have that type of dialogue and debate with political opponents that have already made it the cornerstone of their campaign. New Jerseyians deserve better than that.
At the time, New Jersey-based Republican pollster Adam Geller told FOX that Menendez’s impending decision to mount an independent run represents “an incredible opportunity for Republicans … because suddenly you don’t need 50% plus one” in the reliably blue state. “You can win with a plurality. You can win with less than 50% when three candidates are on the list.”
Geller said that the senator running can split the left-of-center vote and “peel off some ostensibly Democratic voters who are loyal to Menendez.”
The pollster went on to say the senator’s bid would serve to “punish the Democrats who insisted that he step down, and who he feels perhaps turned on him or betrayed him.”
On Tuesday, left-wing Rep. Andy Kim, D-NJ, won the Democratic nomination for the Senate race, while businessman Curtis Bashaw won the Republican nomination.
Kim has emerged as a prominent Menendez critic following the senator’s indictment. After Menendez announced his independent run Monday, Kim blasted his former ally.
“Everyone knows Bob Menendez isn’t running for the people of New Jersey, he’s doing it for himself,” said the progressive congressman.
>> SEPTEMBER 2023: MULTIPLE DEMS CALL FOR MENENDEZ’S RESIGNATION <<
Despite describing himself as a Catholic, Menendez is a staunch supporter of abortion and pro-LGBTQ policies.
CatholicVote reported in September 2023 that Menendez “blocked CatholicVote co-founder Joseph Cella from receiving a vote on his nomination by President Trump to become the U.S. Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu.”
“Despite the senator’s efforts, Cella was eventually confirmed,” noted CatholicVote’s report.
Also, in April 2023, Menendez introduced a bill targeting pregnancy resource centers (PRCs). In doing so, the senator argued that the pro-life centers are “deceptive” and “misleading.”
Menendez’s office repeatedly referred to so-called “pregnant people” in a press release promoting the legislation:
Each year, thousands of pregnant people seeking objective and medically sound reproductive health care end up walking into crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), who falsely and deliberately advertise themselves as comprehensive reproductive health care providers, yet, their intent is to discourage pregnant people from having abortions.
>> SEPTEMBER 2023: EGYPTIAN MAN WHO ALLEGEDLY BRIBED MENENDEZ ARRESTED <<
