Former U.S. Representative George Santos announced on Tuesday that he is withdrawing from his longshot bid to return to Congress. The announcement comes months after he was expelled from the House while facing numerous federal fraud charges.
Santos, who had been running as an independent candidate for the 1st Congressional District in New York, made the announcement in a post on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). This decision follows reports that his campaign committee had no fundraising or expenditures in March, raising doubts about the viability of his campaign.
Last month, Santos launched a campaign to challenge Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in the GOP primary for the eastern Long Island congressional district, which is different from the one he previously represented. However, just weeks later, Santos declared that he was leaving the Republican Party and would instead run for the seat as an independent.
In his post on X, Santos explained his decision to withdraw, stating, “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 ticket and be responsible for handing the house to Dems. Staying in this race all but guarantees a victory for the Dems in the race.”
Santos was expelled from the House in December after a damaging ethics committee report found “overwhelming evidence” of lawbreaking and concluded that he “cannot be trusted.” He is only the sixth member to be expelled by colleagues in the chamber’s history.
The former congressman has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that include deceiving Congress about his wealth, stealing from his campaign, and obtaining unemployment benefits he didn’t deserve. His trial is tentatively scheduled for later this year.
Despite his withdrawal from the current race, Santos hinted at a possible return to politics in the future, tweeting, “It’s only goodbye for now, I’ll be back.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.