George Santos ends his congressional campaign, blames “the rise of antisemitism”

Gay and disgraced former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has dropped out of the race to represent New York’s First Congressional District.

He claimed he was worried that running as an independent would take votes away from Republicans and help a Democrat win the district.

Related:

George Santos flees from reporters asking about his 10 new criminal charges

One reporter said Santos “rushed into his office and slammed his door on us.”

Santos, who was expelled from the House in December after an ethics probe found evidence that he was involved in fraud, announced his campaign for this November just after last month’s State of the Union address. He said that he would run in New York’s First Congressional District, changing districts after a Democrat won his former district.

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Santos represented New York’s Third Congressional District for the year that he was in Congress. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY), who currently represents New York’s First Congressional District, was part of a group of New York Republicans who led the effort to expel Santos. The First district is near the Third and includes less densely populated areas of eastern Long Island.

“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 ticket and be responsible for handing the house to Dems,” Santos wrote in announcing the end of his campaign. LaLota won by eleven percentage points in 2022.

Santos also blamed “the rise of antisemitism in our country” as a reason for dropping out of the race, arguing that Democrats are antisemitic and helping a Democrat get into Congress would increase that antisemitism.

“Staying in this race all but guarantees a victory for the Dems in the race,” he wrote. “The future holds countless possibilities and I am ready willing and able to step up to the plate and go fight for my country at anytime.”

“It’s only goodbye for now, I’ll be back.”

Santos currently faces a total of 23 federal criminal charges related to various alleged schemes to enrich himself at the expense of taxpayers and campaign donors.