well New Jersey still reacting to yesterday's news that US senator Bob Menendez will end his 18-year term on August 20th the announcement came as a shock to many who'd seen Menendez ignore calls to resign from all members of the democratic delegation in New Jersey and his Junior partner in the Senate Corey Booker among others but he sent a resignation letter to Governor Murphy following the news that the Senate Ethics Committee would investigate him he also cited concerns over that investigation in impacting his appeal process but in the wake of the resignation Governor Murphy now has the job of appointing a replacement senior correspondent Brenda Flanaigan takes a look at who might be considered for the job and what political insiders are predicting I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country Bob Menendez still fiercely insists he never took those gold bars and cash as bribes for favors and will appeal his 16 felony convictions but facing almost certain expulsion by Senate colleagues Menendez reluctantly sent them a letter of resignation it lets anxious New Jersey Democrats sidestep the Scandal so Governor Murphy can do a quick pick replacement to fill the tarnished senator's empty seat within the Latino Community there has been a real ground swell and effort to see if even though it's you know it would be a small gesture to appoint another Latino there Frank argot FR worked for Menendez during his years in the house he applauds Governor Murphy's promise to exercise my duty to make a temporary appointment to the United States Senate to ensure the people of New Jersey have the representation they deserve first lady Tammy Murphy quickly took her name off the short list Congressman Andy Kim who's running for menendez's seat in November said he'd be willing a perhaps kind of strategic uh pick would be Andy Kim so he could get his feet wet in the Senate presumably since looks like he could run away with this race in November but sources note the governor's doing some political math and selecting Kim would subtract another New Jersey member from house Democrats who suffered a loss when Congressman Donald Payne passed away this summer back then House minority leader hakee Jeff raised concerns about member vacancies with the governor and New Jersey Democratic State committee chair looy Jones Jones says rather than picking Kim Republicans have proposed letting the voters decide rather than giving one of the candidates a head start putting a thumb on the scale voters are pretty sick of The Insider deals Mike Jim advises GOP Senate candidate kis Bashaw it seems to me the governor uh from reports today is not looking to appoint a House member and I think that's uh I think that's the best thing for the state so I think that's probably the best bet for for everyone is for him to appoint uh a trusted and respected leader from his party to hold that seat on a a temporary basis until the election can play out in November the placeholder list also reportedly includes lieutenant governor tahisha way and federal judge Esther salus but appointing salus takes her off the bench and I think we need her on the bench that's a federal judge that she she has a job to do and removing her is actually a mistake so I actually think that the community has forced the morphe administration to consider a Latina name Patricia Campos Medina ran in the US Senate primary and would gladly serve as a placeholder as for Menendez his letter mentioned he's leaving because I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important work it's effective August 20th enough time for me to close out my Senate Affairs and of course strategically so um he'll get another month of his pension uh so certainly a calculated resignation Menendez will probably spend down his campaign cash paying legal bills his legacy well that will be viewed through the lens of history for now Democrats believe it's critical to fill his empty chair depending on the outcome of this election you could have a very busy Lan Duck Session because obviously if the Democrats lose then they'll be seeking to to do a series of things particularly in the Judiciary side in those last few weeks and so they would definitely want a reliable vote there so filling the position as soon as possible I think would be important Menendez is sentencing scheduled for October 29th I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight News