After Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted for bribery and refused to resign, Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) has announced a primary campaign to challenge him for his Senate seat.
Rep. Kim tweeted:
After calls to resign, Senator Menendez said: “I’m not going anywhere.” As a result, I feel compelled to run into him. Not something I expected, but NJ deserves better. We cannot compromise the Senate or compromise our integrity. Join me: https://t.co/QFIaMsgJc9
— Andy Kim (@AndyKimNJ) September 23, 2023
Senator Menendez (D-NJ) has refused to resign and has vowed to fight the charges against him. In a statement to PoliticusUSA, Menendez said: “Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty. I intend to continue fighting for the people of New Jersey with the same success I have had over the past fifty years. This is the same success story that these same leaders have been touting all along. It is not lost on me how quickly some rush to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat. I’m going nowhere.”
Menendez has not been found guilty of anything, and if he wants to use a legal standard as justification for staying in his seat instead of an ethical one, that’s his choice, but the voters of New Jersey deserve a choice too.
The DOJ has charged Menendez and his wife with taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.
Democrats would be hypocrites if they tried to disqualify Trump from the ballot while supporting Senator Menendez for re-election.
Democratic voters in New Jersey will have a choice, but Bob Menendez and his bribery indictment will not be allowed to skate through a Democratic primary unopposed.