Never mind.
Barely a month after announcing an independent run in the First Congressional District, George Santos has changed his mind — again.
Santos, who announced on March 22 he was leaving the Republican Party and would challenge Rep. Nick LaLota as an independent candidate, the disgraced former congressman announced yesterday he has decided against running.
On March 1, he had announced he would challenge LaLota for the Republican nomination in a party primary.
| MORE COVERAGE: | Former Rep. George Santos announces his candidacy in East End congressional district |
| Santos says he’s leaving GOP and will seek election in NY-01 as an independent candidate |
Santos was booted from the House of Representatives on Dec. 1, less than a year after taking office, following a House Ethics Committee report that found there was “substantial evidence” Santos had violated federal criminal laws, stolen from his campaign and deceived donors to obtain contributions he used for his personal benefit.
He is also currently scheduled to be tried in September on 23 federal criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Just before 5 p.m. yesterday, Santos announced in a post on X that he decided to withdraw from the race, saying he didn’t want to “split the ticket and be responsible for handing the house to Dems…”
He said he didn’t want his run “to be portrayed as a reprisal against Nick LaLota,” who he reiterated he believes has an “abysmal record.”
LaLota, who like Santos was elected in 2022, called on Santos to step down less than two weeks after they both took office last January. LaLota voted in support of referring Santos to the House Ethics Committee and later cosponsored a resolution to expel him from the House.
But, Santos said, his decision is “only goodbye for now” and promised “I’ll be back.”
A few minutes after Santos’ announcement, LaLota responded on X:
“Chat GPT translation: He’s taking a plea deal.”
Santos offered an alternative explanation of his own during an interview recorded earlier in the day with talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw.
“Where we are today in this country as far as politics goes, the rhetoric is so strong, there’s no way for you to be able to be successful with a independent campaign,” Santos told McGraw in the interview.
McGraw posted a video clip of the Santos interview on X about an hour after Santos made his announcement on the social media platform.
As of the Federal Election Commission’s March 31 reporting deadline, the Santos for Congress campaign committee reported raising zero dollars and having no cash on hand.
The Santos for Congress committee is the principal campaign committee for George Devolder-Santos. Its mailing address is a digital mailbox at the Riverhead Staples store at 1087 Route 58. The committee’s treasurer is Jason Boles of RTA Strategy, which according to its website, helps political candidates shape “winning campaigns with crisp, clean financial and ethical reporting strategies.”
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