By Matthew Fazelpoor, NJBIZ
After a suspenseful month, Gov. Phil Murphy will tap his former chief of staff George Helmy as New Jersey’s next U.S. senator, replacing Robert Menendez.
Helmy’s appointment was first reported the evening of Aug. 14 by the New Jersey Globe.
Menendez was convicted last month in a federal bribery and corruption case. On July 23, Menendez announced he would step down from his seat, effective Aug. 20 (see below for a timeline of events).
That meant Murphy would choose a replacement to serve as a caretaker until January – when the winner of this year’s election between Democrat and current 3rd District U.S. Rep. Andy Kim and Republican Curtis Bashaw will be seated for the new term.
Rumors have swirled over the past few weeks about who Murphy would select with a variety of names mentioned such as Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and others.
Earlier this month, the New York Post reported that Helmy had emerged as a frontrunner.
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