Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) announced on Monday that he’s running for reelection, despite facing multiple ongoing investigations, questions over his background, and repeated calls to resign.
“As a first-generation American, I am no stranger to the issues affecting my district. I grew up poor with a single mom, and thanks to the American dream, a poor boy of immigrant parents in Queens can grow up to serve his community in the halls of Congress,” Santos said in a statement.
Santos, who represents New York’s 3rd Congressional District, has been in Congress since January after defeating Rob Zimmerman, a Democrat, in the 2022 midterm elections with 53.8 percent of the vote.
The Republican formally declared his candidacy on March 14 when he filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.
“I was elected to fulfill my campaign promises of securing our border, lowering the high cost of living, solving the disastrous SALT issue in our tax code, and fighting the [Gov. Kathy] Hochul crime crisis of policies empowering criminals to terrorize the people of New York,” Santos said in his announcement.
“I’ve been in office for 100 days, and through legislation and my votes, I’ve already made significant efforts to honor those promises,” the 34-year-old continued. “Since the Left is pushing radical agendas, the economy is struggling, and Washington is incapable of solving anything, we need a fighter who knows the district and can serve the people fearlessly, and independent of local or national party influence.”
?ANNOUNCEMENT: I am proudly announcing my bid for re-election for #NY03. This is about TAKING BACK our country and restoring greatness back to New York.??
To support donate here:??https://t.co/BH2nGK54vp pic.twitter.com/LGJdPcsyP6
— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) April 17, 2023
Background Scrutiny
During his last campaign, Santos portrayed himself as a graduate of Baruch College who went on to work for high-profile financial firms Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, while also touting he ran an animal charity, in addition to other falsehoods.
In December, Santos admitted that he lied about his employment and education history, saying he never actually graduated from any college and also never directly worked for the two Wall Street firms.
During an interview on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” in February, the New York lawmaker admitted that he’s a “bad liar,” but he defended his deceptions by saying that he was trying to get the support of his local political party.
Following news of Santos fabricating much of his resume, the Nassau County Republican Committee publicly called for his resignation in a statement on social media, stating that “over 40 Republican elected officials have rebuked Congressman George Santos.
“The Chairman of the Nassau GOP and the elected officials condemned Santos’ campaign of deceit and lies,” the statement said. “His fabrications have hurt people. What’s more, he deceived voters and has disgraced the House of Representatives. Santos has got to go!”
Santos is also under a House Ethics Committee investigation over claims he engaged in unlawful activity on the campaign trail. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has said that Santos would be expelled from Congress if the committee finds that he broke the law.
“If … he has broken the law, then we will remove him, but it’s not my role,” McCarthy said on Jan. 24. “I believe in the rule of law. A person’s innocent until proven guilty.”
McCarthy has stood by Santos, stating that the people of New York’s 3rd Congressional District voted him into office.
“He has a responsibility to uphold what they voted for, to work and have their voice here, but at any time if it rises to a legal level, we will deal with it then,” he said.
In a statement in early March, Santos’s office said he’s “fully cooperating” with the investigation and that there “will be no further comment made at this time.”
Epoch Times reporter Jackson Richman contributed to this report.