| Advertisement |
April 23 (UPI) -- Citing a desire to keep the U.S. House of Representatives under Republican control, former U.S. Rep. George Santos on Tuesday dropped his independent bid for New York's 1st District House seat. "It is clear that with the rise of anti-Semitism in our country we cannot afford to hand the House to Dems as they have a very large issue with anti-Semitism in their ranks," Santos said in an announcement posted on X.
Advertisement
Santos said he did not want an independent run to split the Republican ticket between him and incumbent Republican candidate Rep. Nick LaLota if he secures the Republican nomination after New York's June 25 primary, Politico reported.
Nancy Goroff and John Avlon are vying for the Democratic nomination for the Congressional seat during the New York primary.
Santos in March said he would run as an independent to regain a House seat after he was expelled by House Republicans, NBC News reported. He represented New York's 3rd Congressional District at the time.
Although he ended his run as an independent candidate, Santos said he might eventually run for a congressional seat.
"The future holds countless possibilities," he said, "and I am ready, willing and able to step up to the plate and go fight for my country at any time."
The House in December expelled Santos after federal prosecutors filed several fraud charges against him and a House ethics committee determined there was "substantial evidence" that Santos committed fraud.
LaLota was among House leaders seeking to expel Santos.
Santos pleaded innocent to 23 federal charges accusing him of wire fraud, false statements, falsifying records, identity theft and access device fraud.
The charges stem from his alleged role in a credit card scheme that bilked campaign contributors by making multiple charges.
Santos would have needed at least 3,500 qualifying signatures from 1st District voters to present to the Suffolk County Board of Elections by May 28, in order to qualify for the June 25 primary.
