Indicted Sen. Menendez is skipping Democratic primary — but won’t be counted out just yet

Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey said Thursday he won’t run in the state’s Democratic primary as he faces federal corruption charges, but he left open the possibility that he might reenter the race as an independent later this year if he is exonerated at trial.

Menendez’s announcement comes four days before a state deadline to file to run in the June 4 Democratic primary that’s already being contested by Rep. Andy Kim and New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy.

In a nearly 10-minute video posted on social media, Menendez speaks about his decades in Congress and his push for aid for his state, including for Superstorm Sandy recovery and COVID-19 relief.

“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 and debate with political opponents,” he says in the video. “You deserve to hear from those who wish to represent you about what they would do for you and your families in the future. Therefore I will not file for the Democratic Party this June.”

Menendez said that he’s hopeful he will be exonerated at trial, and that he could run as an “independent Democrat” in the general election.

The decision comes as he fights federal bribery charges along with his wife, Nadine Arslanian, and three business associates.

The couple are charged with taking bribes of gold bars, cash and a Mercedes-Benz in return for the senator’s help with projects pursued by three New Jersey businessmen.

Menendez helped one of the men get a lucrative meat-certification deal with Egypt, taking actions favorable to the Egyptian government, according to prosecutors. An additional indictment said Menendez helped another associate get a deal with a Qatari investment fund.

The senator, Arslanian and two of the three business associates have pleaded not guilty. The other associate has pleaded guilty and has agreed to testify in the case.

Menendez’s retreat from the Democratic primary sets the stage for Murphy and Kim to vie to be the party’s standard-bearer in a deep-blue state that hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972.

Murphy, the wife of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, is a first-time candidate who’s running with the backing of influential party insiders. Kim is a three-term congressman who has centered his campaign in part on upending the state’s unique ballot design, which is widely viewed as favoring candidates preferred by county party insiders.

“I will win in November even if I have to beat Menendez and a Republican simultaneously,” Kim said in a post on the social media platform X.

Murphy said in a post on X that the state needs a senator focused on issues confronting families in New Jersey.

“Senator Menendez continues to place himself ahead of what’s best for New Jerseyans and the Democratic Party as a whole. He shouldn’t have the privilege of serving in the Senate in any capacity,” she said.

The stakes are high, with Democrats across the nation competing to hold on to their narrow control of the Senate.

Republicans have their own primary unfolding, featuring businessman Curtis Bashaw; Christine Serrano Glassner, mayor of the borough of Mendham; and former TV news reporter Alex Zdan.

Menendez, who’s serving a third full term in the Senate, has been elected to office at every level in the state. His stature among Democrats withstood a previous federal corruption trial that ended in a hung jury, and saw him reelected in 2018 with the full-throated endorsement of his party.

This time, though, Democrats called for his resignation soon after the Justice Department’s case against him was unsealed. The day after the first indictment in September, Kim announced his campaign.

Menendez, who has taken on a defiant tone since the indictment was announced, mingled that with conciliation in his video.

“I know many of you are hurt and disappointed in me with the accusations I’m facing,” he said. “Believe me, I am disappointed at the false accusations as well. All I can ask of you is to withhold judgment until justice takes place.”

The son of Cuban immigrants and an attorney by training, Menendez was a Union City, N.J., school board member at age 20, and went on to become the mayor of the city, where he still has deep roots.

His biography says that he wanted to fight corruption early on in his political career. And he did, testifying against Union City officials and building a reputation as tough. From there, he was elected to the state Assembly, then the state Senate, before heading to the U.S. House.

Menendez was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2006 to fill the seat that opened up when incumbent Jon Corzine became governor.

He was elected outright later in 2006, and again in 2012 and 2018. He served as the top Democrat and sometimes-chair on the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee beginning in 2013, but lost that post after his previous indictment. He regained the position after federal prosecutors declined to renew charges in that case, which ended in a mistrial.

He was forced to give up that position again after being indicted last year.

Catalini writes for the Associated Press.