George Santos ends his congressional bid after raising no money

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos said Tuesday he is abandoning his bid to return to Congress, months after he was kicked out of the House while facing a series of federal fraud charges.

Santos, who was running as an independent candidate for New York’s 1st Congressional District, said he was withdrawing from the race in a post on the X social media platform.

The announcement comes after the disgraced former congressman’s campaign committee reported no fundraising or spending in March, suggesting his campaign had failed to get off the ground.

Santos launched a campaign last month to challenge Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in the GOP primary for the Eastern Long Island congressional district, which is a different district than the one he previously represented. A few weeks later, Santos declared that he was leaving the Republican Party and would instead run as an independent.

“While Nick and I do not have the same voting record and I remain critical of his abysmal record, I do not want to split the ticket and be responsible for giving the House to the Democrats,” Santos wrote on X, adding : “Staying in this race virtually guarantees a victory for the Democrats in the race.

Santos was expelled from the House in December following a damaging Ethics Committee report that determined there was “overwhelming evidence” of breaking the law and that he “cannot be trust.” He is only the sixth member expelled by his colleagues in the history of the House.

The former congressman has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, including misleading Congress about his wealth, stealing from his campaign and getting unemployment benefits he didn’t deserve. His trial is tentatively scheduled for later this year.

In his post on X, Santos did not rule out running for office in the future.

“It’s just goodbye for now,” he wrote, “I’ll be back.”