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GOP
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After being convicted of being a crooked senator the second time around (the first time ended in a hung jury), Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) announced he was leaving the Senate in shame tomorrow—except for the shame part. Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) could have appointed Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) to the seat to give him a head start on the full term he is virtually certain to win in November, but decided not to. We presume Murphy didn't choose Kim so that the candidate could campaign full-time, except when a very close House vote is expected. In that way, the people of New Jersey could get to know him better.
Instead of picking Kim, Murphy selected his former chief of staff, George Helmy, who will be a senator until Jan. 3, 2025. It is not likely the Senate will take up any serious legislation between now and then, but New Jersey is entitled to two senators, just in case. Helmy, of course, knows the gig is for only 4 months, but putting "United States Senator" on your C.V. is always nice. If you are Roland Burris, you can also put it on your tomb.
When announcing his pick, Murphy said "No elected official is above the law." Murphy was a banker, not a lawyer, before getting into politics, so he probably doesn't know that he should have said: "No elected official below the president is above the law."
Helmy is probably fine and, in 4 months, how much damage could he really do? The optics are, er, awkward though. Menendez was convicted of taking bribes from the Egyptian government. Who takes his seat? An Egyptian-American. Both of Helmy's parents immigrated to the U.S. from Egypt. Normally, that would be fine, but in this specific case, maybe appointing, say, a retired Latino judge would have looked better.
Helmy is not the first retired senior aide to be appointed as a placeholder senator. New Jersey Republican Jeffrey Chiesa, Massachusetts Democrat Mo Cowan, and West Virginia Democrat Carte Goodwin paved the way.
Note, incidentally, that Menendez quietly abandoned his independent bid for his seat over the weekend. Helmy will resign when the general election results are certified, so as to give Kim a head start on seniority. (V)