Who would replace Bob Menendez in Senate? Here are Murphy’s choices after corruption conviction.

The long fall of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, convicted this week on federal corruption charges, has upended New Jersey’s political order, spurring speculation over who Gov. Phil Murphy might appoint to finish the final months of his term.

Menendez has resisted calls to resign since he was indicted last September. With the Democrat now facing a prison sentence and the possibility of expulsion from the Senate, NBC News reported Wednesday evening Menendez was telling allies he would step down.

But within hours, he told another outlet that’s not true.

“I can tell you that I have not resigned, nor have I spoken to any so-called allies ... Seems to me that there is an effort to try to force me into a statement. Anyone who knows me knows that’s the worst way to achieve a goal with me,” Menendez told CBS New York’s Christine Sloan.

The New York Times, meanwhile, reported Menendez has told allies he is considering resigning but may dig in.

The conflicting reports further muddied the future of the Senate seat Menendez has held since 2006.

Embattled N.J. Sen. Bob Menendez reportedly denies claims he will resign

Menendez faces decades in prison.

If Menendez doesn’t step aside, the Senate could make the rare move of expelling him by a two-thirds vote — something the state’s other Democratic senator, Cory Booker, said he’d push for. As of Wednesday, a dozen Senate Democrats say they’re open to taking that step.

Should Menendez go, New Jersey’s governor would have the sole authority to select a temporary replacement.

Menendez’s corruption trial laid bare the uglier side of money and influence in politics, and Murphy, also a Democrat, would have to tread carefully in filling a job that likely calls for casting key votes during a tumultuous election year.

One top potential contender: U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who won the Democratic nomination in this fall‘s race for Menendez’s seat after a contentious primary battle against First Lady Tammy Murphy in the wake of the charges against the senator.

But nothing is certain in New Jersey politics, and insiders and experts have suggested to NJ Advance Media a wide array of possible picks.

Gov. Murphy could plug the vacancy with a placeholder or caretaker who’d hold the seat until November’s winner takes office in January, when Menendez’s third term is up. (Menendez is running as an independent, but he‘s considered a long shot and his conviction could upend that, too.)

The governor could appoint someone who’d become the first woman from New Jersey to ever serve in the U.S. Senate — including Tammy Murphy, his wife; Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way; U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman; retired state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg; or labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina, who challenged Kim for the seat in the Democratic primary.

Campos-Medina is also among the Latino or Latina leaders he could name to replace Menendez, one of the few Latinos in the Senate.

Or, yes, Murphy could hand the post to Kim, giving the congressman a leg-up in November’s race for a full six-year term in the seat.

“It’s kind of like a no-brainer, and anything other than Andy Kim being placed in there would be a huge mistake,” Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday.

“There’s an opportunity to get Andy Kim some seniority versus other senators that will be elected this November,” added Fulop, a Democrat who is running his own bid for governor next year.

“That’s hugely advantageous for New Jersey. We currently have a Democrat there, so you’re not undermining the voters in any way by putting the Democratic nominee.”

Timeline: The Menendez saga

The hammer has fallen on New Jersey's senior senator, Robert Menendez, who has been convicted on allegations that he accepted bribes of gold and cash and acted as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government.

Kim said in a Zoom call with reporters Tuesday he “would step up” if Murphy asked him, saying he’d be able to “hit the ground running, with so much at stake right now, to know my way around the Capitol, to know my way around these issues that are there.”

“But that is a decision for the governor,” Kim said.

Sources say the brutal primary fight between Kim and Tammy Murphy left the governor with bad blood. The first lady dropped out before the primary election and once Kim ultimately won the party’s nomination last month, Murphy was asked if he’d endorse the congressman in the general election.

“I’ve got a long history of supporting Democrats up and down the ballot, and that won’t change,” Murphy said without mentioning Kim directly.

Murphy’s office declined to comment Wednesday on “potential appointments,” referring back to the governor’s statement after Tuesday’s verdict calling for Menendez to resign or be expelled to make way for a temporary senator who would give New Jerseyans “the representation they deserve.” He did not list any names.

There is also concern that appointing Kim would temporarily vacate his current seat representing New Jersey’s 3rd congressional district, leaving Democrats down a vote in the Republican-led House at a crucial time.

Republicans would also accuse Democrats of trying to influence the November election by naming Kim.

”Appointing candidate Andy Kim to fill this vacancy would put the thumb on the scale — benefiting one candidate before an election, and further eroding what little trust the public still has in its officials after Senator Menendez’s conviction,” said state Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco, R-Morris. “New Jersey has to end the special insider deals that got us here. I’m urging Governor Murphy to do the right thing, appoint a trusted and respected leader as a placeholder, and let the voters have their say this November without interference.”

State Sen. Jon Bramnick, a Republican candidate for governor, said in an appearance on Fox News that Murphy should appoint Curtis Bashaw, Kim’s Republican opponent, to the seat instead.

That’s an unlikely move for Murphy at a time when Democrats hold only a few more Senate seats than the GOP.

Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist., a veteran lawmaker and the only Black woman to ever represent New Jersey in Congress, would likely have to give up her House seat in a year she is running for re-election. Still, she “does not discourage the idea” of accepting a temporary Senate appointment, according to The New York Times.

Campos-Medina, the labor leader, said she would be interested, but no one from Murphy’s inner circle has reached out to her yet. She noted she earned double-digit support in every county in the Democratic primary against Kim.

“I showed I can energize a base that feels ignored by the Democratic Party in New Jersey and a base Kim needs to win plurality to defeat Bashaw,” Campos-Medina said.

Murphy could choose from a wide bench of other retired but respected Democrats, such as Weinberg, former Gov. and state Sen. Richard Codey, or even former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine.

Weinberg told NJ Advance Media she was “not packing to go to Washington.”

“Would I love to be a U.S. senator for a day just for the experience? Yes,” she said. “What do I think is the right thing for our party and country? For Menendez to resign and Kim get appointed.”

Codey — who recently retired after a record 50 years in the state Legislature — said people have mentioned him as a possibility, but the governor’s office has not contacted him. He joked that “my calendar just opened up“ and said he would “absolutely” be interested.

“I’ve been a longtime undertaker,” said Codey, a funeral director by trade.

“I can be a caretaker.”

Stories by S.P. Sullivan

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S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @johnsb01.