Sen. Bob Menendez could soon be spinning straw donations into more gold ingots.
The indicted New Jersey Democrat has collected enough signatures to defend his seat as an independent, according to a new report, setting up a potential three-way race in November.
Menendez, 70, opted against running in the June 4 Democratic primary, which is expected to be won by progressive Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ).
As of Thursday, the Menendez re-election campaign had achieved the 800 signatures necessary by primary day to qualify for the ballot, but was planning on gathering up to 10,000 to make a “statement” about the senator’s “level of support,” sources told NBC News.
“He’s not going down without a fight,” one person told the outlet of the effort.
The New Jersey Department of State’s Division of Elections has yet to list Menendez as a general election candidate. A spokeswoman for the office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reps for Menendez’s office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Polls have shown that if Menendez is able to qualify, his support would cut into Kim’s margin over the Republican nominee in a three-way race.
A Fairleigh Dickinson University survey from last month showed Kim leading by double digits over both prospective GOP candidates, Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner and developer Curtis Bashaw.
With Menendez included, Kim’s lead dwindles to six and eight percentage points over Glassner and Bashaw, respectively, while the incumbent earns 7% and 6% support in each race.
Menendez is currently on trial in Manhattan federal court for allegedly accepting bribes of more than $600,000 in cash and gold bars in exchange for favors to three wealthy New Jersey businessmen.
He has also been accused of acting as a foreign agent while in a leadership position on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, from which he has since stepped down, to benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
Menendez has pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed he is innocent, and his attorneys have tried to claim his wife and co-defendant Nadine inherited the gold bars from her Lebanese family and stashed them at the couple’s home without his knowledge.
The trial of Nadine Menendez has been postponed while she undergoes treatment for breast cancer.
The senator previously evaded criminal conviction when a federal jury deadlocked on similar corruption charges in 2017.
During Menendez’s first run for re-election in 2012, one of his leading campaign funders pleaded guilty to a straw-donor scheme that sent roughly $100,000 in illegal contributions to his campaign, according to NJ.com.
The trial has drained the Democrat’s campaign of $2 million in funds for legal services, April filings with the Federal Election Commission show.
