5pm News Conference. Sen Torrecelli will announce whether or not he is dropping out of the race

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Fox News will carry the news conference live.

[William McKinley]

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[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Heads up.

[r9etb]

A press conference means he's pulling out of the election. The open question is whether he'll also resign -- which he probably will, "for the good of the party."

[Ziva]

If he drops out of the race, then the Dems will run Bob Menendez.

[Tacis]

Torricelli may "drop out" but he will not quit. A suggestion that he might quit is a negotiating ploy. It will force the campaigns of other democrats to contribute to his campaign. He is extortng the other theives, those who "admonished" him. The value to bribe takers like Dashole and his bag lady wife (why else would he, a leftist, refuse to make his tax returns public?) and to the other dem crooks in the majority to hold that majority for at least another 90 days is easily worth the millions that they'd have to pay Torricelli.

Unspent campaign money reverts to the candidate so he would leave in January with a nice nest egg. The dem crooks, in turn, would use their majority in that 90 days to increase their income from sources like, perhaps, the Chinese, the Iraqis, the Saudis, the unions and the drug cartels. They would, of course, continue to attack Bush, block judges, obstruct in every way possible and continue to support the Iraqis and Palestinians.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Isn't it too late for someone else to run?

[stanz]

Oh...no... the Congressman who only legislates for Hispanics.

[Republican Wildcat]

If Toricelli is out, we are in trouble. Dems will have a much greater chance of winning the seat.

[scooby321]

what is state Law in NJ on this

[TBP]

If he drops out of the race, then the Dems will run Bob Menendez.

Or Flim Flam Florio.

Remember the current governor of NJ is a Democrat. Maybe Torch resigns, tries to clear himself of this, hopes it recedes, and tries to come back in 4-6 years, perhaps as McGreevey's successor in the governor's chair when he is term-limited out. I bet that's the general outline of the deal.

Then they'll find someone just as corrupt. Who else do they have?

[Registered]

[Black Agnes]

I'm glad I'm not Menendez's only constituent that noticed that.

Menendez Sux!(tm)

[ER_in_OC,CA]

I saw in an article that the dems can NOT replace Torch on the ballot at this point in time if he simply drops out of the race. However, it looks like they CAN if he also resigns his Senate seat.

[stanz]

I e-mail that bas***d all the time and he never once replied. (I guess I wouldn't reply either if I got the kind of e-mails I sent him.)
His name is never associated with anything unless it relates to Hispanic needs, gripes or inquiries.

[Aggie Mama]

I think I read on the other thread that Sept 17 was the filing date and that since it is a Federal election, they can't change the voting date.

[XGMan]

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Fox News is now stating that the announcement will come at 4pm.

Moderator, could you please change the title to 4pm news conference?

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Could you please change the time of the news conference in the title of this thread to 5pm?

Thank you.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Sen. Bob Torricelli is dropping his bid for re-election to the United States Senate, PoliticsNJ.com has confirmed. He will make a formal announcement later today. Torricelli intends to serve the remainder of his term, which expires on January 4, 2003.

The leading candidates to replace Torricelli on the Democratic ticket are former Sens. Bill Bradley and Frank Lautenberg, and Reps. Bob Menendez, Frank Pallone and Rob Andrews.

One top Democrat close to the campaign says that Bradley has emerged as a very real candidate to run against Republican Douglas Forrester, and another Democratic leader says that Bradley is the top choice of Gov. James E. McGreevey. Bradley, who spent part of today on an airplane, is expected to be heavily lobbied over the next few hours to enter the race.

But other Democrats close to the former three-term Senator said that the don't expect Bradley to return to the Senate.

McGreevey is expected to play a decisive role in who the Democratic State Committee designates as their Senate candidate, although Torricelli seems to have made it clear that he expects input on this decision.

Torricelli began telling Democratic leaders late last night that he would drop out if the party can find a replacement candidate who could hold the seat against Republican Douglas Forrester, several top Democratic sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said today.

Democratic sources say that Menendez initially turned down a chance to run for the Senate, preferring to remain a candidate for re-election and for a house leadership position. But party leaders are reportedly pressuring him to reconsider his initial position and enter the Senate contest. Menendez has a campaign warchest with $2.4 million, which would help him jump start a five-week campaign.

Torricelli may resist ceding the nomination to Lautenberg, with whom he enjoyed a bitter relationship during their four years together in the Senate.

Some Democrats say that Lautenberg could raise money quickly, and certainly has the means to use his personal funds to finance a campaign.

Pallone, a seven-term Congressman from Monmouth County, appears interested in running, but has reportedly not yet made a decision.

Andrews, a Congressman from South Jersey since 1990 who nearly won the Democratic nod for Governor in 1997, is reportedly also in the mix. Andrews, who is unopposed for re-election in the heavily Democratic 1st district, has a strained relationship with South Jersey Democratic leader George Norcross. But one South Jersey Democratic leader told PoliticsNJ.com that Norcross would embrace an Andrews candidacy because the organization views Andrews as a strong statewide candidate, and because the region wants to promote a statewide candidate.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., a three-term House member from Paterson, is also reportedly on the list of potential candidates. A source close to Pascrell confirmed that he received a call from Torricelli this morning to discuss the possibility of Pascrell becoming a Senate candidate.

The deadline to replace Torricelli on the ballot was September 16th, but Democratic insiders say they believe there is still time to make a switch. Any change of candidates would have to be approved by a vote of the Democratic State Committee.

Republicans say that it is too late for the Democrats to replace Torricelli. Click here to read a legal memorandum from the National Republican Senatorial Committee General Counsel.

But Democrats are saying that if Torricelli resigns his Senate seat, and McGreevey appoints a new Senator, that person could assume the Democratic nomination for a full term. On Sunday, Torricelli and Sen. Jon Corzine met with McGreevey during a private meeting at Drumthwacket, the Governor's residence. Sources say that the Torricelli withdrawal scenario was discussed at that meeting.

Torricelli may end his bid because attacks on his ethics have made it impossible to talk about issues. Democrats, who hold a one-vote majority in the U.S. Senate, are concerned that Torricelli could lose this election and give the GOP control of Senate. A Star-Ledger/Eagleton- Rutgers poll released on Saturday showed Forrester with a 13-point lead, and with Torricelli's negatives soaring.

Last week, the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals released a memorandum written by federal prosecutors that lent credibility to accusations made by David Chang. And WNBC-TV devoted 38 minutes without commercial interruption to a story on Torricelli's ethics.

But even with the ethics issue dogging him, Forrester has still not been able to break 50%, suggesting that the largely unknown GOP candidate hardly has a lock on the Senate seat.

Torricelli had assembled a top-flight campaign team, headed by veteran Democratic operative Ken Snyder. This group has been able to keep the incumbent very much in the race despite a barrage of tough news stories.

If Pallone opts to run for Senate, Democrats will need to replace him on the ballot in the 6th congressional district, where he is the heavy favorite for re-election against Republican Ric Medrow. Leading candidates include State Senators Joseph Vitale of Woodbridge and Robert Smith of Piscataway.

And if Andrews were to emerge as a candidate, Democrats would similarly be charged with finding a new congressional candidate in the 1st district; State Sen. John Adler, Assemblyman Louis Greenwald and Camden County Freeholder Jeffrey Nash are possible candidates for Congress.

Any change of congressional candidates, if permitted at all, would be done by a vote of the full County Committee of all municipalities in the district.

This is the fourth time in three cycles that New Jersey politics has been thrown into turmoil with speculation of a surprise withdrawal of a statewide candidate. Last April, the front runner for the GOP Senate nomination, Essex County Executive James W. Treffinger, withdrew from the race less than a week after FBI agents raided his Newark office. Last year, Acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco ended his gubernatorial campaign after the filing deadline amidst a series of news stories on his ethics. And Gov. Christine Todd Whitman pulled out of the 2000 race for U.S. Senate after changing her mind about running.

There are other examples of last-minute candidate swaps being successful. In the 1990 Minnesota gubernatorial race, an embattled GOP candidate under attack for personal problems quit the race a week before the election. The replacement candidate, Arne Carlson, campaigned for less than a week and unseated incumbent Gov. Rudy Perpich. (09/30/02)