New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy To Appoint Temporary Senator To Replace Menendez After Indictment

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) will appoint someone to replace Sen. Bob Menendez (D) following his resignation announced this week.

In a letter, Menendez announced that he will resign from his Senate office after being convicted of 16 corruption charges.

Now, the governor must appoint a replacement for the remainder of Menendez’s term, which ends at the beginning of next year. In a statement, the governor told constituents he would choose a “temporary appointment to the United States Senate to ensure the people of New Jersey have the representation they deserve.”

Numerous names have been floated, including New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy, who ran in the Democratic primaries before dropping from the race. The first lady announced on Tuesday that she would not accept the appointment to the Senate in a social media post.

“While I’m grateful for the humbling support and outreach I’ve received since last year, I want to reiterate that I will not accept an appointment to the U.S. Senate,” First Lady Murphy wrote. 

The governor is considering Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, Judge Esther Salas and Nina Mitchell Wells, who previously served as a secretary of state. Each of these potential candidates are women of color. In addition to these women, the governor is also considering his former chief of staff, George Helmy.

Rep. Andy Kim is the Democratic nominee for the seat and is expected to beat his Republican opponent, Curtis Bashaw.

Sen. Cory Booker (D) encouraged Murphy to appoint Kim into the office now.

Kim announced that he had not heard from the governor and is focused on “winning this outright for six years.” 

In a social media post, Kim said he believes Menendez made the right decision.

“Senator Menendez has made the right decision for New Jersey by agreeing to step down next month,” Kim wrote. “It’s time for New Jersey to move forward. We have big challenges ahead of us, and we can only tackle them if we show the people of our state that this is the beginning of a new era of politics built on integrity, service, and delivering for all families.”

Article by Hannah Molayal