Sen. Bob Menendez has enough signatures to run as an independent despite his bribery trial

WASHINGTON — Indicted Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has collected the necessary signatures to run for re-election to the Senate as an independent, five people familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Menendez needs 800 signatures by June 4 to gain ballot access in November and hopes to reach closer to 10,000 signatures by that date, according to three sources with knowledge of his plans.

One of the sources, who previously worked for Menendez, said the senator, who is currently on trial on federal bribery charges, wants the number of signatures to be a “statement” in and of itself, “to show the level of support he still has.”

Menendez’s office did not return NBC News’ request for comment. 

If successful, Menendez would likely face off against New Jersey Democratic Rep. Andy Kim — who is considered to be the front-runner in the race to replace him — and a Republican. The primary, in which Kim will face Patricia Campos-Medina and several Republicans will face off for their party’s nomination, is June 4.

Anthony DeAngelo, Kim’s senior adviser, told NBC News in a statement, “People are fed up with a broken political system that only benefits the well-off and well-connected and fuels corruption. Voters deserve better and they’ll have a chance to vote for change next week and this November.”

Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, have been charged with 18 counts of bribery and corruption. The former chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee was accused by prosecutors of acting as a foreign agent and stepped down from leading the panel while the trial against him proceeds.

His federal criminal trial just entered its third week and is expected to last at least until July. There is no law that prohibits Menendez from running for federal office even if convicted, but he’s said his independent run is contingent upon his exoneration.

NBC News has previously reported that Menendez was considering a run for his Senate seat as an independent and that doing so would allow him to continue to fundraise to cover his legal bills, which have already cost him $2 million.

Two people close to the senior senator say Menendez has “unfinished business” in Washington, D.C., and doesn’t want his legacy to end with a criminal trial. “He’s not going down without a fight,” one of them said.

Menendez could file to run as an independent at any time but will likely wait until June 4 to submit his signatures because his son, Rep. Robert Menendez Jr., D-N.J., is running for re-election in a competitive primary that will take place that same day, two sources with direct knowledge said.

The senior Menendez’s controversial bid could interfere with his son’s re-election efforts and Menendez Jr. has already been targeted with attack ads related to his father’s case. That’s one of the reasons Menendez decided to run as an independent — so that he and his son did not need to share the same ticket, one person with direct knowledge of his thinking said.

Another reason Menendez wants to gather more signatures than is required is because he expects some of the signatures will be challenged. Under New Jersey state law, any voter can sign an independent ballot petition as long as the person hasn’t already signed a petition for one of the two major parties.

Despite his legal troubles, Menendez still enjoys support from Democrats in the north and central parts of the state and from New Jersey’s many Latino voters, according to Agustin Garcia, Menendez’s longtime friend who is helping him gather signatures. 

“Everybody wants [the Latino] vote, and Bob has been a forefront of defending their rights,” Garcia said. “Maybe that’s what Latinos need — they need independent voices.”

Garcia, who grew up with Menendez in Union City, New Jersey, and now lives in Miami, told NBC News that he personally organized about 20 people in the state to collect signatures for the senator’s independent run, including six of their Lambda Theta Phi fraternity brothers. He said he believes Menendez will be exonerated.

Some Democrats in Hudson, Essex and Passaic counties have also been helping Menendez behind the scenes with his re-election campaign, according to Garcia, who said he has personally spoken to Democratic officials in the area. A former Menendez aide also told NBC News that Democrats throughout the state have been quietly helping Menendez win back his seat.

Menendez allies noted that although Kim is the likely Democratic nominee for Senate, some party bosses still have not endorsed the three-term congressman. Kim successfully challenged the state’s unusual ballot design, which groups all party-backed nominees together with other candidates off to the side, dealing a blow to the state’s political machine earlier this year.

Joseph Barreto, founder of the SOMOS New Jersey Political Action Committee, which aims to increase Latino representation in the state and is backing Campos-Medina in the primary, said a lot of Democrats in the state still have strong ties to Menendez.

“Menendez still can wield that power, that he still has people beholden to him, you know, different things, favors. He’s been around so long that God knows who was placed where, who got a job, or things like that, and that’s where all this comes into play.” he said.