Dumping stocks? Easy. Dumping indicted incumbents? Hard.
Rep. Chris Collins, who was indicted for insider trading, has changed his mind about running for re-election.
Republican leaders, who have been working for weeks to find a replacement, were shell-shocked by Collins’ about-face.
“This is a big curveball,” a visibly distressed Erie County GOP chairman Nick Langworthy said at a press conference Monday. “I think this race would be extremely close.”
The development was first reported by The Buffalo News.
Republican officials had been trying to convince Collins to cooperate with plans to swap him into another race in Erie County so they could name a new candidate to protect the GOP seat in Congress.
But Collins wouldn’t cooperate.
“These are the cards we have been dealt at this point,” Langworthy added.
The Erie County GOP chair said he became aware the talks were “not going in a positive direction” on Friday, but that the effort finally fell apart Monday morning.
The upstate Republicans needed Collins’ cooperation because New York’s strict election laws make it impossible to remove a candidate’s name from the ballot except in three situations: dying, leaving the state or being nominated for another office.
“He’s choosing not to take that avenue, and I just have to respect his decision.” Langworthy said. “He would have to accept and cooperate with any plans put in place and he’s chosen not to do so.”
It’s a stunning re-reversal for Collins, who was indicted along with his son on insider trading charges in August.
The feds alleged the pair dumped their stock in Innate Immunotherapeutics after learning a key drug trial had failed — well before the information became public.
Collins allegedly made the call to sell at a White House picnic for lawmakers, where a CBS News television camera captured Collins on the phone.
Initially, Collins vowed to fight for the seat and protested his innocence.
But just days later announced he was suspending his campaign for a fourth term.
As recently as a week ago, Collins publicly promised he would do whatever local GOP officials wanted in an interview with Channel 4 in Buffalo, WIVB-TV.
“I will cooperate fully in deferring to them as they look for someone to replace me on the ballot,” he said at the time.
When asked if that meant he was supportive of efforts to replace him on the ballot, he answered “yes.”
An enraged local Republican source said Collins was attempting to get leverage with federal prosecutors for a possible plea deal — a move pulled by former Staten Island congressman Michael Grimm.
He who won reelection in 2014 while under indictment, but was subsequently convicted on tax fraud charges and resigned.
“This is a criminal defense strategy. He’s left the party with no option. He was playing footsy with party officials and then he refused to cooperate,” the source said. “It’s all about him. Chris is using this as a bargaining chip for his own defense.”
Democrats had little hope of winning the heavily Republican district that covers many of Buffalo’s suburbs and were running a self-described sacrificial lamb, Nate McMurray.
But after the insider trading charges were announced, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee expressed support for McMurray.
Local Democrats threatened to sue to keep the damaged incumbent on the ballot.
There are 191,000 registered Republicans and 150,000 Democrats in the 27th congressional district.
“We find ourselves with a seat that will draw a lot of attention,” Langworthy concluded.
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile
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