On Tuesday, one day after he resigned from New York's 27th District, former GOP Rep. Chris Collins pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of lying to federal investigators. Collins is scheduled to be sentenced in January, and Politico writes that he could face up to 10 years in prison: As part of his plea deal, Collins agreed not to appeal any sentence of up to 57 months. The Republican was arrested last year for insider trading, and he narrowly won his final term while under indictment.
Collins’ resignation will set off a special election for this 60-35 Trump seat in western New York, but no one knows when Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo will schedule it for. The governor said Tuesday that, while it was too late to hold the race this November, he’d like it to happen “sooner rather than later.” Under New York special election law, the nominees will be picked by local county party committees rather than through a primary.
State Sens. Rob Ortt and Chris Jabobs both kicked off primary bids against Collins earlier this year, and they both reaffirmed that they’d compete in the special election. Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw, who has repeatedly said in the past that he’d run if Collins didn’t, said on Monday that he’d announce his plans within days.
However, these Republicans may be overshadowed if Army veteran David Bellavia, who received the Medal of Honor in June, gets in. Bellavia very much didn’t rule out running on Monday, saying, “I’m not going to make a public decision without talking to the people, not only in the party, but a lot of close leaders in the Republican movement in western New York. I really want to sit down with them and hear what they have to say.” Multiple Republicans have suggested over the last few months that Bellavia would be the frontrunner, and Mychajliw said in July that he wouldn’t oppose him.
On the Democratic side, 2018 nominee Nate McMurray reaffirmed that he’d keep running now that Collins is gone.
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