What does Bob Menendez’s guilty verdict mean for the N.J. Senate race?

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s future in the Senate has been uncertain since he was indicted last fall on federal charges of selling the power of his office in exchange for luxe bribes like cash, gold bars, and a car. But after a jury convicted him on bribery and corruption charges Tuesday, that uncertainty has reached a fever pitch, as the senator faces renewed calls to step down.

Following a nine-week trial, Menendez was found guilty of all 16 charges against him, including bribery, obstruction, using his committee chairmanship for his own benefit, and acting as a foreign agent. The New Jersey Democrat became one of just a handful of U.S. senators to be convicted of a crime while in office, and the first found guilty of being an agent of a foreign government.

But Menendez, 70, has maintained his innocence, and said he would pursue an appeal.

So, what happens to his seat?

Technically, Menendez can continue to serve his term if the Senate does not vote to expel him.

The three-term incumbent has resisted calls to step down prior to the verdict, but the pressure is mounting as fellow Democrats continue to call on him to resign from the Senate.

» READ MORE: Top Democrats call on Sen. Bob Menendez to resign following guilty verdict

If he still refuse to step down, Democrats in the Senate who control the chamber with a narrow majority will face pressure to vote to expel him. Congress requires a two-thirds majority, or 67 votes, to do so.

Members of the House have been expelled in recent years, but a U.S. senator hasn’t been expelled since 1862, when a group of lawmakers were removed for supporting the Confederacy. Since then, senators who faced the risk of expulsion decided to resign instead.

Former Sen. Harrison Williams Jr., a New Jersey Democrat also convicted of bribery, resigned from the Senate in 1982 before his colleagues could vote on whether to expel him.

Former Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, was the last senator convicted of a crime while in office, when he was found guilty of making false statements related to his financial disclosure forms in 2008. Stevens refused to resign, but he was ousted from his seat in an election, only to have his conviction wiped out by an appeals court over alleged prosecutorial misconduct.

U.S. Rep. Andy Kim won the Democratic primary in New Jersey, and is favored to win the November general election because Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state.

But last month, Menendez filed paperwork to run for a fourth term as an independent. He has until mid-August to withdraw from the November ballot should he choose to.

Menendez has not said what his political plans are since the guilty verdict.

If he chooses to, Menendez can still run for reelection and hold onto his seat while facing or serving time in prison, according to the National Constitution Center, a private nonprofit that focuses on constitutional education. The judge set Menendez’s sentencing date for Oct. 29, which is a week before the November election.

His independent bid could undermine Kim’s standing in the race, if he performs well.

But Patrick Murray, director of The Polling Institute at Monmouth University, said that following the verdict, Menendez’s days in politics are likely over, regardless of an appeal on the case.

“It’d be very hard for people to believe, even if there was a mixed verdict, that there wasn’t something going on there with the images of the gold bars and the Mercedes and everything else that went along with it,” Murray said.

» READ MORE: Bob Menendez verdict: Will he have to resign? How much prison time is he facing? What happens next?

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, called on the Senate to move forward with expelling Menendez if he refuses to resign.

If Menendez’s seat were to be vacated, Murphy said he would use his power to appoint a replacement senator to serve through January, but he hasn’t indicated who he would pick.

The Democratic Party has already nominated Kim as its candidate for November.

It would be strategic for Murphy to appoint Kim, because if Kim’s candidacy is successful, he would start his new term with seniority that could bolster New Jersey’s influence in committees.

Kim competed for the Senate nomination against the governor’s wife, first lady Tammy Murphy, in a heated primary before Murphy dropped out of in March.

— Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this report, which also contains information from the Associated Press.