Former U.S. Rep. George Santos said Tuesday he will abandon his long-shot bid to return to Congress, months after being expelled from the House while facing a series of federal fraud charges.

Santos, who was running as an independent candidate for the 1st Congressional District in New York, said he was withdrawing from the race in a post on the social media platform X.

The announcement came after the disgraced former congressman’s campaign committee reported no fundraising or spending in March, sparking speculation that his campaign had failed to get off the ground.

Santos last month launched a campaign to challenge Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in the Republican primary for Long Island’s Eastern Congressional District, which is a different district than the one he previously represented. Weeks later, Santos said he would leave the Republican Party and instead run for the seat as an independent.

“Although Nick and I do not have the same voting record and I remain critical of his dismal record, I do not want to split the ballot and be responsible for handing the house to the Democrats,” Santos wrote on X, adding: “Remaining in this race virtually guarantees a victory for Democrats in the race.”

House members reacted to the expulsion of former Rep. George Santos.

Santos was expelled from the House in December following a damaging ethics committee report that found there was “overwhelming evidence” of violations of the law and that he “cannot be trusted.” He was only the sixth member expelled by colleagues in the chamber’s history.

The former congressman has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that include misleading Congress about his wealth, stealing from his campaign and obtaining unemployment benefits he did not deserve. He has a trial tentatively scheduled for later this year.

In his post on X, Santos did not rule out running for office in the future.

“For now it’s just goodbye,” he wrote, “I’ll be back.”