George Helmy Sworn in as New Jersey Senator Following Menendez’s Resignation

George Hemly looks on before being sworn-in inside the Old Senate Chamber at the Capitol, on September 9, 2024. Bonnie Cash/Getty Images

New Jersey Sen. George Helmy, a Democrat, was sworn in on Monday to fill the seat vacated by former Sen. Bob Menendez, who resigned last month following his conviction on corruption charges.

Helmy, former chief of staff to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, will hold the office until the winner of the November election—either the Democratic Party’s Rep. Andy Kim or the GOP’s Curtis Bashaw—is certified.

Sen. Cory Booker, the state’s senior senator, escorted Helmy into the Senate Chamber on Monday and stood with him while he took the oath of office.

“I’m incredibly humbled to be sworn in as New Jersey’s junior senator,” Helmy stated on the social media platform X. “I commit to serving NJ with determination and to ensure our work benefits the people we serve.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) welcomed Helmy to the Senate and said that he was the first member of the Coptic Orthodox Church to ever hold the position.

“I thank George for answering the call of service,” Schumer said in a statement. “We wish him nothing but success and are ready to assist him however necessary in the weeks and months to come.”

Murphy said on Aug. 16 that he chose Helmy to become Menendez’s interim successor because he believed that Helmy understands “on a fundamental level” the responsibilities of the role.

“George is the ideal leader to take on this role—and he has more relevant experience under his belt than perhaps anybody in New Jersey,” the governor said in an Aug. 16 press release.

Helmy served under Murphy for five years, making him the longest-serving gubernatorial chief of staff in the state’s history.

Before joining the Murphy administration, Helmy served as an aide to Booker, and before that, the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). He is currently an executive at RWJ Barnabas Health, the Garden State’s largest health care system.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) exits Manhattan federal court in New York City after being found guilty of all counts in a corruption trial, on July 16, 2024. Adam Gray/Getty Images

Menendez, the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was found guilty in July on a total of 16 charges related to accepting bribes in exchange for helping foreign governments. During a search of his home, the FBI discovered gold bars and over $480,000 in cash.

Prosecutors alleged that Menendez and his wife, Nadine, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes from businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes between 2018 and 2022. These bribes included gold bars, a luxury convertible, payments on a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, and home furnishings.

Menendez denied all of the allegations against him. Ms. Menendez pleaded not guilty. Her trial was indefinitely postponed as she recovered from breast cancer surgery.

The senator is due to be sentenced on Oct. 29, a week before Election Day. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Menendez was previously on trial for unrelated federal corruption charges in 2015 but his case ended in a mistrial and prosecutors declined to try it again.

Bill Pan, Jackson Richman, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.