Indicted Republican Rep. Chris Collins isn't giving up his New York congressional race

Chris Collins.
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) could be in jail right now. Instead, he's running for Congress.

Republicans had been desperately seeking to replace Collins on the ballot this fall after he was indicted last month on insider trading charges. But in a Monday twist, Collins' lawyer revealed he does not "see a path" to let Collins off the ticket — and Collins' Democratic rival is literally cheering, The Buffalo News reports.

Collins, a longtime ally of President Trump, was arrested in August after allegedly using his congressional seat to benefit investors in an Australian pharmaceutical company of which he is a board member. Collins called the charges "meritless," pleaded not guilty, and was released on $500,000 bail later in the month. He originally intended to keep running this fall, but suspended his re-election bid Aug. 11.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Democrats would've probably cited election laws to challenge any attempts to replace Collins so close to the midterms, a source told The Buffalo News. Still, Republicans in Collins' western New York district were reportedly preparing to reveal who would replace him on the ticket this week — but Collins upended their plans Monday after his lawyer confirmed that he wouldn't step aside for another candidate. An area GOP chairman told The Buffalo News that he felt like a "groom jilted at the altar."

Even before Collins switched his stance, Democrats started lobbying hard to flip the deep-red district for opponent Nate McMurray. Even Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez was at a McMurray rally Monday; when the Collins news broke, supporters cheered, per The Buffalo News. McMurray, in a statement, joked that he's mostly just happy to "finally know who I was running against."

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.