Not to mention, if this jury finds him guilty, he will appeal. Various convictions on similar charges were called into question when the conviction of Governor McDonnell of Virginia was overturned. One person who benefited was Sheldon Silver, NY assembly member.
If - and its a big if - he is convicted, he will NOT step down immediately because he is entitled to appeal. This is good because if he were to step down before January, Christie would name a Republican for the seat -- even if Phil Murphy wins the November election. If he is found guilty and loses all his appeals, it is very likely that would happen after the new Governor is in office. I expect that if he loses -- there will be a HUGE outcry for him to step down IMMEDIATELY. If Murphy wins the November election - or if that verdict comes before the November election, EVERY Democrat NEEDS to argue that we need to wait until all appeals are done. Seriously, the Republicans can say that a President in his last year should not get to name a Supreme Court Justice - a Governor, whose party has lost and who has the lowest approval rating of any governor should not name a Senator.
Now, if he is either not convicted or he wins an appeal, NJ Democrats are likely to push him NOT to stand for reelection in 2018. If he opts to run, I suspect he will lose a primary badly. I canvassed for him in Morris County in 2006 when he ran after being appointed by Corzine in 2005. Even in Dover, with a large Hispanic population and in very Democratic Morristown, there was very little excitement for him. (Corzine should have appointed someone like Russ Holt, who would not have been an embarrassment to the state even before he was indicted. He blocked the Obama EPA appointees because he was angry with the Cuba policy and he was as bad as any right winger on the Iran deal. )
Either way by the end of January 2019 - he will almost certainly not be a Senator.
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