US Representative George Santos, who embellished his resume by claiming to have worked on Wall Street, will face a Republican primary challenge from someone who actually did — a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. vice president.
(Bloomberg) — US Representative George Santos, who embellished his resume by claiming to have worked on Wall Street, will face a Republican primary challenge from someone who actually did — a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. vice president.
Kellen Curry, a major in the Air Force Reserves, said he quit his job as a vice president in JPMorgan’s corporate and investment banking business to file campaign paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Monday.
A JPMorgan spokeswoman confirmed that Curry worked at the bank and had recently resigned. Curry, 37, who was a US equities research analyst, said he had worked full-time at the bank since 2019.
“The general thrust of our message is simple and straightforward: It’s about restoring honesty and integrity back to congressional representation,” Curry said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Monday. “The people deserve better.”
Santos, 34, has been dogged by allegations that he fabricated large parts of his life story during his 2022 congressional campaign, including his mother’s death in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, playing a role in a collegiate volleyball championship and work at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
In interviews, Santos has admitted he made up parts of his resume, including jobs at major banks. Last month, Santos filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission declaring his intention to seek reelection in 2024.
Curry lives in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, just outside of Santos’s 3rd Congressional District that represents northeastern Queens and most of Nassau County on Long Island. He said he’s in the process of moving into the district.
Santos responded in a text that “the more people giving Joe Cairo a headache the merrier. I believe in the people and I believe in our democracy.” Cairo, the Nassau County Republican chairman, has said the organization would not support Santos in 2024.
An Oklahoma native from a military family, Curry graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 2009 and attended business school at George Washington University.
Curry calls himself a “kitchen table Republican” and said he also has an interest in cybersecurity and national security from his time as a procurement officer in the military.
No Democratic candidate has formally announced in the district, which President Joe Biden won in 2020. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Monday included the district as one of 31 vulnerable GOP-held seats it will target in 2024.
–With assistance from Billy House.
(Updates with Santos comment, in eighth paragraph.)
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