If indicted Menendez decides to resign, Murphy would choose his successor

By: Ashley Balcerzak
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Senator Bob Menendez refused to step down from his senate seat after being indicted in 2015, accused of a bribery scheme accepting gifts from an ophthalmologist friend. an 11'233k trial ended with the Jury deadlocked, a federal judge acquitted him of several charges and the Department of Justice dropped the remaining charges.
..... He won reelection handily in 2018.
..... He appears to be similarly defiant after being indicted Friday [09/22/2023] on federal corruption charges, with prosecutors charging him and his wife with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of brinies in exchange for allegedly helping them enrich themselves and get out of legal trouble, according to the indictment from the U.S. Attorney for the southern Distinct of New York.
..... "Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty," Menendez said in a statement. "I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I've had for the past five decades. This is the same record of success these very same leaders have lauded all along. It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat. I an not going anywhere."

Menendez pools trending down

..... Public opinion is trending downward. According to a Monmouth University poll from August, [2023] 45% of register New Jersey voters disapproved of Menendez, and 36% approved - compared with 44% approval in April 2022. Six in 10 residents said they thought the federal investigation affected his ability to serve the state.
..... "The ground has shifted from the last time he faced a similar situation and the support of even his fellow Democrats in the base is starting to slip,' said Patrick Murry, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
..... "The fact that he was in trouble again with the feds was problematic for some people because even if they felt that he was not guilty of the prior crime that he was accessed of, they thought he would have gone above and beyond to make sure that he kept his nose clean this time," Murray said.
..... "That has caused him to lose some of the benefit of the doubt that he had the last time around among his fellow democrats," he said.
..... Hours after the indictment was unsealed, Democratic leaders released statements calling for Menendez's resignation, including from Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Nicholas Scutari, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, U.S. Representative Andy Kim, U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill, and Democratic State Committee Chairman LeRoy Jones Jr.

Must step down as foreign relation chair

..... Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said in a statement Friday [09/22/2023] that Menendez has decided to temporarily step down rom his position a chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senate Democratic Conference rules say anyone in a leadership position charged with a felony will lose his position, though may be reinstated if the charges are reduced to less than a felony, dismissed, or the person is found not guilty.
..... Menendez stepped down when he was indicted in 2015, resuming his position in February 2018.
..... The senior senator is up for reelection on November 5 2024. He currently faces on primary challenger on June 4, [2024] real estate investor Kyle Jasey, the son of assemblywoman Mila Jasey.
..... On the Republican side, declared candidates include Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, teacher Daniel Cruz, and consulting firm owner Shirley Maia-Cusick.

Governor Murphy would pick a successor

..... If Menendez did choose to resign, Murphy wildfowl choose his successor to serve through the end of his term, January 3, 2025.
..... "I would bet that it's not going to be a man," said Murry. "The fact that we haven't had a woman senator in New Jersey ever ... I think knowing Phil Murphy that would be one thing that he would like to correct for the record."
..... After the death of Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver, Murphy's short list to fill her seat included Assembly women Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Eliana Pintor-Marin, Shavonda Sumter and Britnee Timberlake.
..... :The mind immediately goes to [U.S. Representative] Milie Sherrill," said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. "She has not only the statewide profile but in many ways the national profile. She's a prodigious fundraiser and she's winning in the suburbs. It [also] streamlines the very early gubernatorial primary that is shaping up. It sort of thins out the filed."
..... Other strong fundraisers who have signaled higher office ambitions already in Congress include U.S. representatives Andy Kim, Donald Norcross, Josh Gottheimer and Frank Pallone Jr.

..... Staff writer Katei Sobko contributed to this report. This story contains information from USA TODAY.

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