George Santos, who represented New York’s 3rd Congressional District until his expulsion from the House of Representatives less than one year after his swearing-in, is not running to represent the state’s 1st District this year, contradicting a previous assertion.
Santos, who was elected as a Republican in 2022, was soon outed as a serial liar and fabulist who had fabricated seemingly everything about himself and his background during that campaign.
In March, following his December expulsion from the House and having sworn that he would never return to Congress, he announced a challenge to Representative Nick LaLota of the 1st District in the Republican primary election on June 25. LaLota, a freshman, took part in a broad effort to expel Santos.
“New York hasn’t had a real conservative represent them since I left office arbitrarily, thanks to RINO, empty suits like @nicklalota,” Santos wrote on X, the social media site formerly called Twitter. “RINO” is an acronym for “Republican in name only.”
Santos later wrote on social media that he would not run as a Republican but rather as an independent. Last week, he said that he was ending his campaign to return to the House, according to published reports.
He faces 23 federal felony charges including conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission and the House of Representatives, falsifying records submitted to the FEC, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty. A trial is scheduled for September.
On X, Santos identifies himself as a former representative of the 3rd District, a “culture commentator at large,” and a “former Capital Markets bro.”