Senator Menendez, on Trial, Files to Run for Re-election as an Independent

Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a lifelong Democrat who is in his fourth week of a federal bribery trial, filed paperwork Monday to run for re-election as an independent in November.

The specter of Mr. Menendez, 70, trying to mount a comeback campaign raises the possibility of a splintered Democratic vote in November’s election, creating a wider lane for the Republican nominee at a time when Democrats are struggling to retain their narrow majority in the Senate.

Mr. Menendez has been abandoned by most of the state’s leading Democrats, who quickly called on him to resign after he was indicted on corruption charges last year. He has defiantly refused to step down, but he opted not to run in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

He never, however, shut the door to running as an independent — enabling him to continue to raise and spend campaign contributions on lawyers hired to defend him and his wife, Nadine Menendez, who is also charged in the bribery conspiracy.

His trial is likely to last for at least another month; he has until the middle of August to withdraw from the Nov. 5 election.

The Democratic front-runner for Mr. Menendez’s seat, Representative Andy Kim, was quick to criticize the embattled senator’s entry into the race as selfish.