George Santos drops third-party bid for Congress
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Former US Republican George Santos says he's dropping his longshot bid to return to Congress, months after he was expelled from the House.
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Former Representative George Santos, R-N.Y. sits in the chamber during opening day of the 118th Congress at the US Capitol, on January 3, 2023. (AP)
Former Representative George Santos announced on Tuesday that he is withdrawing from the Congressional race. This decision comes after his recent endeavor to run as an independent third-party candidate against Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.).
He had the potential to draw GOP votes in a swing district crucial for determining the House majority, given his history as a former Republican.
Santos acknowledged this in a post to X Tuesday, saying, "Staying in this race all but guarantees a victory for the Dems in the race," adding, "I don't want my run to be portrayed as reprisal against Nick Lalota."
🚨Announcement!
— George Santos (@MrSantosNY) April 23, 2024
I have decided to withdraw from my independent run for #NY1…
I don’t want my run to be portrayed as reprisal against Nick Lalota… Although Nick and I don’t have the same voting record and I remain critical of his abysmal record, I don’t want to split the…
Initially, Santos intended to challenge LaLota as a Republican, a decision he announced unexpectedly and uninvited during the State of the Union address. However, following the House's passage of a $1.2 trillion spending bill, which was criticized by the House's right-wing hardliners, Santos changed course. He declared that he would pursue an independent bid, stating that he "can no longer be part of the Republican Party."
The House voted to expel Santos in December due to numerous fabrications made during the 2022 campaign trail and his indictment on two federal charges.
The former congressman pleaded not guilty to federal charges, which include allegations of deceiving Congress about his wealth, embezzling from his campaign funds, and fraudulently obtaining unemployment benefits.
The 35-year-old politician faces federal charges, including theft, credit card fraud, money laundering, and identity theft. The tipping point, however, came with a congressional ethics investigation that presented "overwhelming evidence" of misconduct. The probe accused Santos of attempting to "fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy."
In his post on X, Santos said at the time that he did not rule out seeking office in the future. “It’s only goodbye for now,” he wrote, “I’ll be back.”
