well this guilty verdict all but ends menendez's long political career as calls for his resignation are once again pouring in today now Menendez is still running as an independent in this race and his name will appear on ballots this November facing Congressman Andy Kim who easily won the Democratic Primary in June and businessman Curtis Bashaw who was running on the Republican side now Bashaw today released a statement that reads in part New Jersey families deserve better than the continued corruption and made for TV political scandals courtesy of Bob Menendez and a democratic machine Congressman Andy Kim also today renewed his calls for Menendez to resign he joins me now to react to the Senator's conviction Congressman great to have you here with us uh you are now among many voices including Governor Murphy today US senator Corey Booker uh calling for the senator to resign what happens next uh he seems defiant as of now well he has been defiant for the last uh 10 months and and well beyond that and we've certainly seen that with him in the past but what I hope is the primary focus here is what is best for New Jersey what is best for the people of New Jersey and for our country we are going through a very turbulent time in our nation right now and a lot of people are on the edge just very worried about what comes next we need to have the kind of leadership uh in the United States Senate that it's able to be able to respond to this and the senator just is not going to be able to do this he's been out of the Senate not there for votes for the last several months in court as we we saw New York uh Senator Chuck Schumer today also calling for him to resign if he does remain defiant does this come down to a vote and do you believe there will be 2third majority to remove him from the US Senate well well first and foremost I I hope the senator does the right thing and steps down but if he does not uh we will see what comes next with the Senate I've certainly called for that before in terms of his expulsion if he has not uh if he does not step down um I respect the Senate to go through that process but I don't know whether or not there are the votes for this right now because it's going to require votes from both Democrats and Republicans and we have heard very little from Republican senator so far in terms of their position on this if he resigns or if there is a two-thirds vote Governor Murphy could appoint someone uh to fill his seat should it be you given the fact that the house is already without Congressman Donald Payne Jr and then could be missing your vote as well well look right now again the focus is is is on uh what is next for Senator Mendez uh if he does step down or is expelled uh that is the governor's decision in terms of who fills that role if asked I I would accept uh and I think that right now uh we have a lot of different tools to be able to stop uh the Republican uh extreme agenda in the House of Representatives uh there was a special election going on right now for Donald Payne Jr's seat so that will be filled soon so I I think that this is something that we'll get to that as it comes uh but that is a decision if it gets to that point for the governor to make you saw the writing on the wall early on you jumped in uh to try to win that Democratic primary you won it pretty handily in New Jersey but what happens to this race if the senator does not back out as an independent how much could that damage your chances well look uh I will tell you that we have run an incredible campaign I mean what we've seen over the last 10 months uh has been remarkable the Grassroots energy we changed Jersey politics uh forever and and trying to make sure that we show that we're going to have different kind of politics that's resonating with people all over the state including with independent voters I'll win this election uh regardless of whether Mendez is on the ballot uh we're just going to run our race and run as strong of a campaign as possible U so this for me is is more about trying to re you know restore trust from the people of New Jersey in our politics um and that's what I'll continue to push for over the next four months Congressman you talk about restoring trust it's hard not to put this in the context of the broader presidential race right now uh many folks saying they really don't even want to turn out to the polls not thrilled with either candidate does this only kind of solidify the idea that government is corrupt and does it throw mud on the face of the democratic party right now well right now like look uh we have a big crisis of trust in New Jersey across this country 84% of people in New Jersey surveyed believe that their politicians are corrupt I I think that is a devastating number something that really shows uh how much problem that we face which is why I stepped up the run I want to show that there a different way for us to do our politics one that's anchored in public service one that's anchored in humility and empathy and the types of traits that people want to see in their leaders through these difficult times so I hope that I can be part of the effort that can restore that sense of hope as well as that sense of Integrity in our politics so far we've been uh connecting with a lot of people and we just need to make sure we're keeping that up until November all right Congressman Andy Kim we will be watching to see how this plays out whether it comes down to a senate vote and whether you end up stepping in to take that seat thanks so much for being with us tonight thanks for having me