TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat on trial on federal bribery charges in New York, has filed for reelection as an independent candidate.
Menendez, 70, had said this year that he would not seek the Democratic nomination for a fourth term, and on Monday he filed paperwork with the state to launch an independent bid on the ballot. He had previously said that an independent nomination was possible.
Asked as he went to court Monday whether he would change political parties, Menendez said in Spanish: “No, independent doesn’t mean I’m changing.”
Later Monday, Menendez told reporters who asked him about his run that he had done a lot for the state of New Jersey, especially during the pandemic and after Superstorm Sandy.
Menendez listed his party in documents filed with the state as “Menendez for Senate.”
The political stakes are high, given Democrats’ limited control of the Senate, where New Jersey is normally safely in Democratic hands. It is unclear how much support Menendez could siphon from U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who is well-positioned to win the Democratic primary, which ends Tuesday. The Republican Party has not won a U.S. Senate election in the state since 1972.
Kim, a three-term congressman from the 3rd District, said Menendez was running for himself, not the public.
“Americans are fed up with politicians putting their own personal benefit over what is good for the country,” Kim said.
Menendez, his wife Nadine and three business associates were accused last year by federal prosecutors in New York of running a scheme in which Menendez promised to use his office to help the businessmen in exchange for gold bars, cash and a mortgage payment on his wife’s home and a luxury car. The Menedezes and two of the business partners have pleaded not guilty. A third pleaded guilty and agreed to testify.
In court, prosecutors have argued that Menendez tried to sell his office to enrich himself, by helping business partner Wael Hana gain a lucrative monopoly on certifying meat exports to Egypt to meet Islamic guidelines, and by Fred Daibes to assist with investments related to a Qatari member. Royal family.
Menendez has denied there was a corrupt scheme. His lawyers said his conduct amounted to conducting diplomacy and working on behalf of voters. The gold bars belonged to his wife and the money lying around in his house was, according to his lawyer, an old habit that stemmed from his parents’ escape from communist Cuba.
Daibes and Hana are on trial along with Menendez. Nadine Menendez is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, the senator said, and is expected to stand trial later this summer.
Menendez has held elected office for most of his life, ending up on the Union City, New Jersey, school board just two years after high school. He has since been elected to the Legislature, as a U.S. Representative, and in 2006 as a U.S. Senator.
He survived politically after another federal trial — that time in New Jersey on charges that he used his office to help a friend defraud Medicare — in 2017. It ended in a deadlock and prosecutors declined to hold a new trial. In 2018, with the support of the state’s Democratic establishment, Menendez won reelection.
But his political fortunes turned after the September 2023 indictment, when allies across the state, including Gov. Phil Murphy, and in the Senate called for his resignation.
Menendez vowed to dismiss the charges against him and, like last time, promised to stay. But Menendez did not appear on the ballots for Tuesday’s primary. By submitting an independent application, he is aiming for November.
Two Republican candidates, Curtis Bashaw and Christine Serrano Glassner, have received the most attention. Bashaw, a hotel developer in southern New Jersey, has received significant support from the county party, while Serrano Glassner has received the backing of former President Donald Trump.
Sen. Steve Daines, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Menendez’s decision “makes that race a little more interesting.”
Democrats said they are confident their party will retain control of the seat.
Senator Gary Peters, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, had not yet heard of Menendez’s decision when a reporter asked him about the impact it would have on the race: “We’re going to win. A Democrat will win.”
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Associated Press writers Larry Neumeister in New York and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.
