Could Menendez resign amid corruption indictment? How would his Senate seat get filled?

Sen. Bob Menendez refused to step down from his Senate seat after being indicted in 2015, accused of a bribery scheme accepting gifts from an ophthalmologist friend. An 11-week trial ended with the jury deadlocked, a federal judge acquitted him of several charges and the Department of Justice dropped the remaining charges.

He won reelection handily in 2018.

He appears to be similarly defiant after being indicted Friday on federal corruption charges, with prosecutors charging him and his wife with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for allegedly helping them enrich themselves and get out of legal trouble, according to the indictment from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty," Menendez said in a statement. "I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades. This is the same record of success these very same leaders have lauded all along. It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat. I am not going anywhere.”

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Menendez polls trending down

Public opinion is trending downward. According to a Monmouth University poll from August, 45% of registered New Jersey voters disapproved of Menendez, and 36% approved — compared with 44% approval in April 2022. Six in 10 residents said they thought the federal investigation affected his ability to serve the state.

"The ground has shifted from the last time he faced a similar situation and the support of even his fellow Democrats in the base is starting to slip," said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

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"The fact that he was in trouble again with the feds was problematic for some people because even if they felt that he was not guilty of the prior crime that he was accused of, they thought he would have gone above and beyond to make sure that he kept his nose clean this time," Murray said.

"That has caused him to lose some of the benefit of the doubt that he had the last time around among his fellow Democrats," he said.

Hours after the indictment was unsealed, Democratic leaders released statements calling for Menendez's resignation, including from Gov. Phil Murphy, Sen. President Nicholas Scutari, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, and Democratic State Committee Chairman LeRoy Jones Jr.

Must step down as foreign relations chair

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said in a statement Friday that Menendez has decided to temporarily step down from his position as chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senate Democratic Conference rules say anyone in a leadership position charged with a felony will lose his position, though may be reinstated if the charges are reduced to less than a felony, dismissed, or the person is found not guilty.

Menendez stepped down when he was indicted in 2015, resuming his position in February 2018.

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The senior senator is up for reelection on Nov. 5, 2024. He currently faces one primary challenger on June 4, real estate investor Kyle Jasey, the son of assemblywoman Mila Jasey.

On the Republican side, declared candidates include Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, teacher Daniel Cruz, and consulting firm owner Shirley Maia-Cusick.

Gov. Murphy would pick a successor

If Menendez did choose to resign, Murphy would choose his successor to serve through the end of his term, Jan. 3, 2025.

"I would bet that it's not going to be a man," said Murray. "The fact that we haven't had a woman senator in New Jersey ever ... I think knowing Phil Murphy that would be one thing that he would like to correct for the record."

After the death of Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, Murphy's short list to fill her seat included Assemblywomen Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Eliana Pintor-Marin, Shavonda Sumter and Britnee Timberlake.

"The mind immediately goes to [U.S. Rep.] Mikie Sherrill," said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.  "She has not only the statewide profile but in many ways the national profile. She's a prodigious fundraiser and she's winning in the suburbs. It [also] streamlines the very early gubernatorial primary that is shaping up. It sort of thins out that field."

Other strong fundraisers who have signaled higher office ambitions already in Congress include U.S. Reps. Andy Kim, Donald Norcross, Josh Gottheimer and Frank Pallone Jr.

Staff writer Katie Sobko contributed to this report.

This story contains information from USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: If indicted Menendez resigns, who would fill his Senate seat?