(UnitedVoice.com) – At the end of 2023, George Santos became the first lawmaker to ever be expelled from the House without having fought for the Confederacy or having been convicted of a crime. The former Republican was only the sixth member ever booted from the lower chamber. A few months after he lost his job, the disgraced congressman decided to run for Congress again. That’s over now.
On April 23, Santos announced he was dropping out of the race to represent New York’s First Congressional District. The former Republican lawmaker was only in the race for about a month before giving up. He announced his campaign in March, intent on challenging Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in the primary.
Weeks after Santos announced his candidacy, he announced he was leaving the GOP. Instead of challenging LaLota in the primary, Santos said he’d run as an independent candidate. He claimed he dropped out of the race because he didn’t want to “split the ticket and be responsible for handing the [H]ouse to Dems.”
Santos claimed that if he had stayed in the race, it would have guaranteed the Democratic Party a victory in November. The former candidate claimed he met with constituents and leaders before he “made the decision to hang it up” and stop running for the seat.
🚨Announcement!
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…
— George Santos (@MrSantosNY) April 23, 2024
Santos’ announcement followed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing that showed the former congressman’s campaign raised no money. The reports led to questions about whether he could even get the campaign going.
Santos was expelled from Congress by an overwhelming majority of 311–114. The decision to boot him came after he was charged with multiple federal crimes and a House Ethics Committee investigation accused him of stealing from donors to fund his extravagant lifestyle. He allegedly used campaign money to pay for an Only Fans membership, trips, and other personal expenses.
The federal case against the former congressman is still pending.
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