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WASHINGTON (CN) — Staring down the barrel of a bevy of criminal charges, Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez announced Thursday that he would not participate in his state’s upcoming primary election and instead suggested that he would mount a separate bid for office.
Menendez’s surprise revelation, made public in a prerecorded video message posted on social media, comes as the senior senator from New Jersey faces accusations that he and his wife Nadine used his political influence to assist the governments of Egypt and Qatar in exchange for extravagant bribes including gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz luxury car.
In addition to the lawmaker’s legal peril, Menendez was also set to face a tough primary challenge from current New Jersey Representative Andy Kim — a development that the senator appeared to sidestep Thursday.
In his video message, Menendez told constituents that he would not file to run in New Jersey’s Democratic primary, slated to begin in June. The lawmaker argued that his decision was based in the belief that he would not be able to debate policy issues with competitors given the charges against him.
“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 with political opponents,” the lawmaker said.
Menendez appeared to direct a slight at Kim, who announced his bid to unseat the senator last year following initial reports of his indictment, saying that some of his opponents had made the accusations against him “the cornerstone of their campaign.”
Although he won’t participate in the Democratic primary, Menendez was clear that he would still throw his hat in the ring in November, depending on the outcome of his indictments.
“I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer,” he said, “and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election.”
Menendez said that he hoped the extra time would allow him to “remind New Jerseyans of how I’ve succeeded in being your champion.” The lawmaker rattled off his accomplishments for the Garden State during his nearly two decades as its senior senator — highlighting his work to help pull New Jersey out of the 2008 recession, rebound from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I was a fighter for New Jersey,” he said.
In the meantime, Menendez told his constituents that he would continue serving in the Senate despite the fact that some were, as he put it, “hurt and disappointed in” the charges against him.
“Believe me, I am disappointed at the false accusations as well,” he said.
The lawmaker implored the people of New Jersey to “withhold judgement until justice takes place.”
Amid the cascade of criminal charges against him, Menendez has long rejected calls to resign from colleagues on both sides of the aisle, including from fellow Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.
Instead, the lawmaker has maintained his innocence. He and his wife most recently pleaded not guilty to a superseding count accusing them of obstructing a bribery investigation.
Menendez, who until late last year chaired the powerful Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has been accused of, among other things, spearheading efforts to close a major U.S. weapons sale to Egypt while feeding information to Egyptian government sources. The senator has similarly been charged with abusing his political influence to aid a New Jersey real-estate developer at the behest of the Qatari royal family.
Kim, meanwhile, said Thursday that the prospect of facing Menendez as an independent Democratic challenger in the general election was no big deal.
“I will win in November even if I have to beat Menendez and a Republican simultaneously,” the New Jersey congressman wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “The balance of the Senate is on the line, and we need the strongest candidate possible to keep this seat blue and the Senate in Democratic control.”
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