Citing sources, NBC News is reporting that U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, whose federal corruption trial is set to begin in May, is considering a re-election bid as an independent.
Menendez has remained mostly silent about his political plans, but has not participated in ten Democratic county conventions and two screening committees over the past five weeks that award organziation support. Menendez has run on organization lines since his first bid for a State Assembly seat in 1987.
The filing deadline to run in the Democratic primary is on March 25 — just eleven days away. The New Jersey Globe has confirmed that Menendez has not taken any steps to gather the 1,000 signatures he needs to file his nominating petitions.
Menendez also did not respond to an invitation from the New Jersey Globe to participate in a February 11 Democratic Senate debate with two announced candidates seeking his seat, Rep. Andy KIm (D-Moorestown) and First Lady Tammy Murphy.
Under New Jersey law, Menendez has until 4 PM on the day of the primary election, June 4, to file petitions to run as an independent.
The New Jersey Globe first suggested the option of Menendez running as an independent in September, five days after the Justice Department unsealed a damning indictment alleging that the New Jersey Senator, then serving as Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, had conspired to accept bribes, including gold bars and a new Mercedes for his wife and co-defendant, Nadine.
On the day of the indictment, the state’s political elite, including Gov. Phil Murphy, Democratic State Chairman LeRoy Jones, key county chairs, and legislative leaders called for Menendez’s resignation. Kim, the first to tell Menendez to step down, entered the Senate race the following day.
The deadline for independent candidates to withdraw from the race without appearing on the ballot is August 16; that could give Menendez more time to see how his trial plays out.
New Jersey Republicans are quietly hopeful that Menendez will go the independent route. He would need to take about 8% of the vote for the GOP to end a 52-year dry spell in U.S. Senate race in the state.
“If Sen(ator) Menendez runs as an independent, Dems must put forward the strongest general election candidate. I’m a Dem that won a district Trump won twice and am currently appealing to independent voters by far bigger numbers than my competitors,” Kim said on social media. “I can win this Nov(ember) no matter what Menendez decides to do.”
The last Republican to win a Senate seat was Clifford P. Case, who was re-elected in 1972. Since then, 48 other states have elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate; only Hawaii has gone longer.