And You Thought You’d Heard the Last of George Santos

Some stories in American politics just keep rising from the dead like Zombies on Mischief Night. That will apparently be the case with expelled former Congressman George Santos. Rather than laying low and staying under the radar while awaiting his trial, the New York Republican showed up at the State of the Union last night. He didn’t draw all that much media attention in the midst of the rest of the excitement and hullabaloo, but that didn’t stop him from making his next big announcement on social media after the event was over. He took to Twitter and declared that he would be running to take New York’s Third Congressional District seat away from fellow Republican Nick LaLota in November. The chutzpah of this guy is simply off the charts.

He’s back.

Expelled Republican Rep. George Santos revealed that he would challenge Rep. Nick LaLota for his seat in New York’s First Congressional District, which covers most of Suffolk County on eastern Long Island.

“I just witnessed a weak, frail president deliver spin and lies to the American people from inside the chambers,” Santos wrote on X while attending President Biden’s State of the Union address.

“I have made several personal sacrifices in the name of serving the American people. My promise is that I will never back down because of my love for this country.”

Here’s the tweet. 

Tonight, I came to the SOTU with an open mind and heart because I believe in the great idea that is the United States of America.

I just witnessed a weak, frail president deliver spin and lies to the American people from inside the chambers. I have made several personal…

— George Santos (@MrSantosNY) March 8, 2024

I don’t know what “personal sacrifices” Santos has supposedly made for his country, though he certainly seemed fairly adept at taking other people’s money. (Allegedly.) I also enjoyed the added context note appended to Santos’ tweet by CBS News. It reads, “Mr. Santos did not leave office “arbitrarily.” He was expelled in a bipartisan vote while under indictment for “multiple fraudulent schemes.”

After everything that came to light about Santos following his original election, including the results of multiple criminal investigations, it’s beyond shocking that might believe that people would vote him back into office. He has become a laughing stock at best and potentially a criminal guilty of campaign finance law violations and theft at worst.

But let’s put all of that aside for a moment and pretend that Santos might have some sort of viable shot at victory. Being expelled from office doesn’t disqualify a former member from running again, so he’s not technically barred from the ballot. But why would he challenge a fellow Republican in the Third District rather than trying to take back his old First District seat from a Democrat? In his announcement, he spoke of the “imperative” of holding the GOP Majority in the House. This foolish plan wouldn’t do anything to aid that effort.

If he wants to challenge LaLota, would he be doing so as a Republican or an independent? If the former, then he would need to defeat him in the congressional primary on June 25. The deadline for even getting on the ballot is almost upon us so he would need to move quickly. He would also have to rapidly gather a lot of signatures. Who would sign such a proposal at this point? And who would collect all of those signatures for him? If he intends to run against LaLota in the general election, that contest is scheduled to take place two months after his trial where he will face 23 felony counts that could land him in prison for more than 20 years. He might be a little too busy to do any real campaigning.

At least for now, I’m going to assume that this is an empty threat and not a serious proposal. It sounds as if Santos is just engaged in some political LARPing because he loves being the center of attention and he hates the fact that the media has largely started ignoring him as yesterday’s (dismal) news. Even if he actually does file to run against LaLota, I hope the press continues to turn a deaf ear to him. He’s been a running embarrassment to the GOP and we don’t need any more of that in the runup to the presidential elections.