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Mike DeBonis
A Congress reporter covering the House of Representatives
Attorney Chris Collins (NS), indicted by the federal government for insider trading and lying to investigators, will remain on the ballot in November, his lawyer said on Monday.
This is a scenario that Republican Party officials had hoped to avoid. While the 27th Congressional District of New York is strongly Republican, the Democrats believe that with Collins, they have an external chance to claim the seat in November as they fight to regain the majority in the House.
For weeks, Republican state representatives sought to find a way for Collins to leave the general poll and replace him with an uncorrupted GOP candidate. Unless you die or leave the state, Collins should have accepted the Republican appointment to another state office.
Mark Braden, a Collins lawyer, rejected the option in a statement released Monday.
"Because of the prolonged and uncertain nature of any legal effort to replace Collins Congressman, we see no way for Collins to be replaced on the ballot," he said. declared.
Nick Langworthy, president of the Erie County Republican Party in New York, told reporters that Collins 'decision to stay on the ballot was a "nice surprise" after spending weeks orchestrating Collins' replacement .
"Our hope was to replace a candidate who could have functioned as a true conservative Republican working on the agenda of President Trump without distraction," he told reporters at a news conference. "Unfortunately, we will not have this opportunity at this stage."
Langworthy said Friday he had learned from Collins' lawyers that Collins would not cooperate with this process and confirmed this fact Monday morning during a phone call with Collins himself. He declined to describe the phone call, except to say that Collins said he was following the advice of his lawyers.
"You can not help but feel like a fiancé at the altar here," said Langworthy, saying the Republicans "pulled the carpet underneath" by Collins.
Federal prosecutors accused Collins in August of 11 counts of securities fraud, electronic fraud and misrepresentation to investigators. Collins was president of Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian-based pharmaceutical company that had undertaken a high-staging drug trial. In June 2017, according to prosecutors, Collins learned in his capacity as president that the trial had failed, then warned his son, allowing the son and other members of his family to avoid more than 700 000 dollars of losses by selling their public holdings.
Collins has represented since 2013 the 27th Congressional District of New York, which encompasses the suburban and rural areas extending to the east of the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Democratic candidate is Nate McMurray, a lawyer and local official according to Collins' accusation, he received a spike in donations.
Collins vigorously denied the wrongdoing but said, after the charges were laid, that the suspension of his campaign would be "in the interest of NY-27 voters, the Republican Party and President Trump's agenda" .
But setting aside could lead to personal risks for Collins. Attempting to trade another candidate against Collins would probably have triggered lawsuits from Democrats, which could have distracted Collins. In addition, many politicians charged have made their public service a bargaining chip in negotiations with prosecutors, ultimately agreeing to resign only after entering into an agreement to resolve the charges against them.
Cook's non-partisan political report immediately shifted the solid Republican race to possibly Republican after the indictment. By the end of June, Collins had announced $ 1.3 million for the election campaign, while McMurray's campaign was just under $ 82,000 at the time.
National Democrats quickly seized Collins, who will join Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.) To seek re-election as part of the criminal case.
"Voters at the 27th New York Congress now have the clearest choice between Chris Collins and Nate McMurray, who will be a real fighter for families in western New York. .6, "said Meredith Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Langworthy said he hoped – and expected – that Collins would use his campaign money to keep his seat in the hands of the GOP, saying he was "very concerned about the Republican majority." in the room".
"I think the race would be relatively close," he said. "Before August 8, it was not a competitive race; it was not on any radar. … We are now in a situation where it will attract a lot of attention – and attracted a lot of attention.
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