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When Democratic New Jersey U.S. Senator Robert Menendez was convicted of corruption last month, he announced that he would step down from office by August 20. On Friday, he pulled his name from the November ballot just hours before the Friday deadline.
Behind the scenes he had been discussing with some supporters that he may run as an independent.
“I am advising you that I wish to have my name withdrawn from the ballot,” Menendez wrote in a one-sentence email to the New Jersey Division of Elections.
Menendez, 70, was found guilty of taking bribes and acting as an agent for Egypt after a two-month trial in Manhattan.
He is in the process of preparing an appeal of his 16-count criminal conviction.
Menendez is allowed to use his remaining $3.3 million in campaign funds to pay legal fees even though he is no longer running for office. However, he is now precluded from accepting additional campaign contributions. He received $731.50 from mid-May through the end of June, according to his most recent Federal Election Commission records.
He can legally continue to accept donations to his defense fund, regardless of his status as a candidate. Twenty-one donors contributed a total of $127,500 between April and July.
His campaign funds have been used to pay lawyers representing his wife, Nadine Menendez, who is awaiting trial on charges of political influence for cash, gold and a Mercedes-Benz convertible.
Mrs. Menendez's trial had been delayed because she is being treated for breast cancer. Friday was the deadline for her lawyers to provide Judge Sidney H. Stein of Federal District Court with additional medical records that may be used to determine when Mrs. Menendez, 57, might be ready to stand trial.
As of late Friday afternoon, there was no record that her lawyer, Barry Coburn, had filed the requested documents, which are likely to be sealed from public view to protect Mrs. Menendez’s medical privacy.
Earlier on Friday, New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy announced that he had selected George Helmy, his former chief of staff, to replace Menendez in the Senate through the November 5 election.
After the election, Helmy will step down and Governor Murphy will appoint the winner of the senate race, roughly two months earlier than when senators are sworn in after the first of the year.
Curtis Bashaw, a republican hotel developer, will face off with Representative Andy Kim, a third-term democratic congressman who is heavily favored to win in November.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in New Jersey by nearly one million voters.
No republican senator has been elected from New Jersey in more than 50 years although some republicans have been appointed within that period of time.
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