Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, currently on trial on 16 federal corruption charges, filed for reelection as an independent on Monday, threatening to become a spoiler in a New Jersey race that Democrats normally wouldn’t worry about.
The senator announced in March that he would not seek re-election as a Democrat, but said he “hopes that my waiver will occur this summer and allow me to continue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election.”
Menendez’s trial is far from over and won’t conclude until well after Tuesday’s filing deadline.
Andy Kim is widely expected to be the Democratic nominee for Menendez’s Senate seat, although he faces two opponents in Tuesday’s primaries: Labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina and activist Lawrence Hamm. The Republican nomination battle is mainly between hotelier Curtis Bashaw, who has the bulk of the local Republican Party’s support, and Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, who is backed by former President Donald Trump.
Menendez has virtually no chance of being re-elected as an independent, and his fundraising has dried up since his indictment.
