(Bloomberg) -- Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey will appoint his former chief of staff to replace Senator Bob Menendez, who was convicted on federal corruption charges last month, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday night.
The appointment of George Helmy, a fellow Democrat, will be announced on Friday, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the decision.
The move awards a prestigious though short-term post to one of the governor’s closest confidants and ensures Democrats maintain their narrow 51-49 Senate majority.
Menendez last month announced he would resign effective Aug. 20 after Democratic colleagues threatened to expel him following the conviction. The pending appointment was reported earlier by the New Jersey Globe.
A federal jury in Manhattan found that the senator had received bribes of gold bars, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and a Mercedes convertible in return for official favors extended to three businessmen and on behalf of Egyptian interests.
Earlier: Bob Menendez Convicted of Bribery, Foreign-Agent Charges
In early January, the winner of November’s general election will take the seat. Previous governors, including Murphy’s Republican predecessor, Chris Christie, have also turned to close aides to fill short-term Senate vacancies.
Murphy’s decision to install a member of his inner circle comes just months after the governor faced accusations of nepotism and riled party activists while his wife, Tammy Murphy, ran for the Senate seat with the backing of New Jersey’s most influential Democratic power brokers. She later dropped out of the race and Representative Andy Kim won the primary.
Helmy is an executive vice president at the New Jersey health system RWJ Barnabas Health and is on the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He was the governor’s chief of staff for nearly five years and has experience with the Senate. He was state director for New Jersey’s other US senator, Cory Booker, also a Democrat.
Murphy could have appointed Kim, who is heavily favored to win a full term in November. That would have given the Democratic nominee an advantage in the ongoing campaign and a head start on building seniority, which conveys added power over time.
Yet bruised feelings from the primary remain, and appointing Kim would have created a vacancy in the state’s House delegation, costing Democrats a vote in the closely divided lower chamber.
New Jersey hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
