Washington (CNN) New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins suspended his reelection campaign on Saturday after he was indicted earlier this week on charges related to insider trading.

"After extensive discussions with my family and friends over the last few days, I have decided that it is in the best interests of the constituents of NY-27, the Republican Party and President Trump's agenda for me to suspend my campaign for re-election to Congress," Collins said in a statement. His announcement reverses a comment he made last Wednesday insisting that he would "remain on the ballot running for re-election this November" despite the charges.

Collins' move sets up a scramble by Republicans to overcome New York's complicated election laws to remove him from the ballot and replace him with another candidate before November's midterm elections. That outcome will likely impact the ability of Democrats to flip the seat, which had previously been the most heavily Republican district in New York but now could be competitive.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged Collins, his son and another man with 13 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and false statements stemming from an alleged insider trading scheme centered on an Australian pharmaceutical company. He could face up to 150 years in prison if convicted on all counts, according to Nick Biase, a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York.

Collins has maintained that he is not guilty of the charges, saying in his statement on Saturday that he would "continue to fight the meritless charges brought against me and I look toward to having my good name cleared of any wrongdoing."

Read More</s>Congressman Chris Collins this morning announced he would suspend his campaign for re-election. Collins, a Republican representing New York’s 27th District in the House, was indicted on insider trading charges earlier this week.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Collins said that Democrats “would like nothing more than to elect an ‘Impeach Trump’ Democrat” in the 27th District,” and that “it is in the best interests of the constituents of NY-27, the Republican Party, and President Trump’s agenda for me to suspend my campaign for re-election to Congress.”

Federal prosecutors have charged Collins with passing private information about an Australian biotechnology company, Innate Immunotherapeutics, to his son, Cameron Collins. Collins, who both sat on the company’s board and was its largest single shareholder while simultaneously serving in Congress, allegedly warned his son about the failure of trials for a multiple sclerosis treatment before those results were public. Chris Collins, Cameron Collins, and Cameron Collins’ father-in-law used the inside information to avoid more than $768,000 in losses when the trials failed, according to prosecutors.

Collins’ district encompasses suburban areas of Rochester and Buffalo, and has voted for Republican candidates by wide margins since redistricting after the 2010 census. Collins had enjoyed a solid lead against Democratic opponent Nate McMurray, and Collins initially called the charges “meritless” and said he would continue campaigning.

But many analysts said the charges had changed the calculus of the race at least somewhat in favor of Collins’ Democratic challenger. described the seat as “in play” after the charges, while historical analysis by FiveThirtyEight concluded that the once safely Republican seat had suddenly become “competitive.” The McMurray campaign also experienced an immediate surge in donations after the charges against Collins.

Collins’ downfall could not have come at a worse moment for the GOP nationally. Democrats need to flip 23 seats to retake the House, which would allow them to ramp up investigations of the Trump administration, and slow its legislative priorities. They could also, as Collins’ noted in his statement, potentially impeach the president himself – though that gesture would be purely symbolic without Senate cooperation.

According to the , removing Collins from the November ballot at this late date will require some unusual maneuvering by the state Republican Party. Collins will be nominated for a town clerkship during the state’s primary process, and party leaders will then appoint a new nominee for the House seat.</s>New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins suspended his reelection campaign on Saturday following charges earlier this week related to insider trading.

“After extensive discussions with my family and friends over the last few days, I have decided that it is in the best interests of the constituents of NY-27, the Republican Party and President Trump’s agenda for me to suspend my campaign for re-election to Congress,” Collins said in a statement.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged Collins, his son and another man with 13 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and false statements stemming from an alleged insider trading scheme centered on an Australian pharmaceutical company. He could face up to 150 years in prison if convicted on all counts, according to Nick Biase, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York.

Collins has maintained that he is not guilty of the charges, saying in his statement on Saturday that he would “continue to fight the meritless charges brought against me and I look toward to having my good name cleared of any wrongdoing.”

Collins also said he’s not immediately stepping down and will “fill out the remaining few months of my term.”</s>In this July 19, 2016 file photo, Rep. Chris Collins, R-NY. speaks in Cleveland. Collins was indicted on charges that he used inside information about a biotechnology company to make illicit stock trades.

Rep. Chris Collins, the New York Republican congressman who is charged with insider trading, said Saturday he is suspending his re-election bid to keep Democrats from electing a pro-impeachment candidate in the district.

While noting in his statement on Twitter that he is suspending his campaign, he made it clear that he was in effect dropping out of the race in New York's 27th Congressional District.

Under New York law, a candidate's name cannot be replaced on a ballot this close to the election unless he or she dies, moves out of the state or is nominated for another office.

Collins, who has held the upstate New York seat since 2012, said Democrats are "laser focused" on taking back the House and launching impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

"They would like nothing more than to elect an 'impeach Trump" Democrat in this district, which is something that neither our country or my party can afford" he tweeted Saturday.

He said he will "fill out the remaining few months" of his term to support Trump's agenda. Collins was the first member of the House to back Trump in the 2016 election and seconded his presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention.

Collins was arrested Wednesday morning after a federal grand jury indicted him on insider trading charges as well as lying to federal agents.

In his statement, Collins said he would "continue to fight the meritless charges" and looks forward to clearing his name of wrongdoing.

Collins and his co-defendants surrendered to authorities Wednesday morning in Manhattan, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New York’s Southern District.

All three pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned in federal court, with bail for each set at $500,000. The judge set a return date of Oct. 11 for a status hearing.

Collins addressed the media later Wednesday in a seven-minute statement after which he didn't take any questions. He said he hasn't violated ethical guidelines with his personal investments and also vowed to remain on the ballot for re-election in New York's 27th Congressional District in November.

A federal indictment charges Collins, his son Cameron and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron's fiancée, with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and seven counts of securities fraud.

Rep. Collins is also charged with making false statements to the FBI.

More: Along with Rep. Chris Collins, here are other lawmakers indicted while in office

More: Rep. Chris Collins: Here's what you need to know about the fraud charges he faces

Specifically, Rep. Collins is accused of receiving inside information about negative clinical trial tests conducted by Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian biotech company with which he has long been associated.

He then is accused of passing that information on to his son, prompting the son and others to sell 1.78 million Innate shares shortly before the bad news was made public in June 2017 and the share price plummeted.

Those others included Cameron Collins' fiancée, Lauren Zarsky, her mother, Dorothy, and other friends and family members.

They avoided losses of $768,600, according to the complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contributing: Sean Lahman,Meaghan M. McDermott and Will Cleveland, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle</s>Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., who was indicted on insider trading charges on Wednesday, announced on Saturday that he’s suspending his re-election campaign.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.</s>Charges of insider trading drove Rep. Chris Collins to suspend his campaign and announce on Saturday that he will “fill out the remaining few months of [his] term.”

“Democrats are laser focused on taking back the House, electing Nancy Pelosi Speaker and then launching impeachment proceedings against President Trump,” Collins said in a statement issued Saturday morning. “They would like nothing more than to elect an ‘Impeach Trump’ Democrat in this District, which is something that neither our country or my party can afford.”

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors brought charges of insider trading against Collins.

Collins’ attorneys, Jonathan Barr and Jonathan New, responded to the charges:

We will answer the charges filed against Congressman Collins in Court and will mount a vigorous defense to clear his good name. It is notable that even the government does not allege that Congressman Collins traded a single share of Innate Therapeutics stock. We are confident he will be completely vindicated and exonerated.

Collins called the charges “false” in a Wednesday news conference and vowed to “fight” to clear his name.

In his statement on Saturday, Collins revealed his decision to suspend his re-election campaign:

After extensive discussions with my family and my friends over the last few days, I have decided that it is in the best interest of the constituents of NY-27, the Republican Party and President Trump’s agenda for me to suspend my campaign for re-election to Congress. I will fill out the remaining few months of my term to assure that our community maintains its vote in Congress to support President Trump’s agenda to create jobs, eliminate regulations, reduce the size of government, address immigration and lower taxes.

Collins maintained, “I will also continue to fight the meritless charges brought against me and I look forward to having my good name cleared of any wrongdoing.”

Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook.</s>In this July 19, 2016 file photo, Rep. Chris Collins, R-NY. speaks in Cleveland. Collins was indicted on charges that he used inside information about a biotechnology company to make illicit stock trades.

Rep. Chris Collins, the New York Republican congressman who is charged with insider trading, said Saturday he is suspending his re-election bid to keep Democrats from electing a pro-impeachment candidate in the district.

While noting in his statement on Twitter that he is suspending his campaign, he made it clear that he was in effect dropping out of the race in New York's 27th Congressional District.

Collins, who has held the upstate New York seat since 2012, said Democrats are "laser focused" on taking back the House and launching impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

"They would like nothing more than to elect an 'impeach Trump" Democrat in this district, which is something that neither our country or my party can afford" he tweeted Saturday.

He said he will "fill out the remaining few months" of his term to support Trump's agenda.

Collins was arrested Wednesday morning after a federal grand jury indicted him on insider trading charges as well as lying to federal agents.

Collins and his co-defendants surrendered to authorities Wednesday morning in Manhattan, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New York’s Southern District.

All three pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned in federal court, with bail for each set at $500,000. The judge set a return date of Oct. 11 for a status hearing.

Collins addressed the media later Wednesday in a seven-minute statement after which he didn't take any questions. He said he hasn't violated ethical guidelines with his personal investments and also vowed to remain on the ballot for re-election in New York's 27th Congressional District in November.

"The charges that have been levied against me are meritless and I will mount a vigorous defense in court to clear my name," Collins said.

Contributing: Sean Lahman,Meaghan M. McDermott and Will Cleveland, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle</s>New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins suspended his reelection campaign on Saturday after he was indicted earlier this week on charges related to insider trading.

“After extensive discussions with my family and friends over the last few days, I have decided that it is in the best interests of the constituents of NY-27, the Republican Party and President Trump’s agenda for me to suspend my campaign for re-election to Congress,” Collins said in a statement. His announcement reverses a comment he made last Wednesday insisting that he would “remain on the ballot running for re-election this November” despite the charges.

Collins’ move sets up a scramble by Republicans to overcome New York’s complicated election laws to remove him from the ballot and replace him with another candidate before November’s midterm elections.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged Collins, his son and another man with 13 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and false statements stemming from an alleged insider trading scheme centered on an Australian pharmaceutical company. He could face up to 150 years in prison if convicted on all counts, according to Nick Biase, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York.

Collins has maintained that he is not guilty of the charges, saying in his statement on Saturday that he would “continue to fight the meritless charges brought against me and I look toward to having my good name cleared of any wrongdoing.”

Although Collins is now suspending his campaign, it’s too late for him to withdraw from the ballot, according to the New York Board of Elections. The nominee would have to die, accept a nomination to a different office or be disqualified, board spokesman John Conklin said.

“In the unlikely event that he’s convicted of something prior to Election Day, that still wouldn’t get him off the ballot,” Conklin told CNN. “State law doesn’t apply to federal offices, meaning you can have a conviction on your record and still run.”

Conklin also said the process to replace Collins’ name on the ballot, should it be removed, would involve a meeting of the party leaders within the district who would select a substitution based on a weighted vote by county.

A GOP operative told CNN on Saturday that officials are considering nominating Collins for a town clerkship that will allow him to vacate the ballot.

Collins’ decision not to actively campaign could give his opponent, Democrat Nate McMurray, an opportunity to pick up the heavily Republican western New York district, which stretches between the suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester.

Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw said Saturday that he’ll be pursuing the Republican nomination for the congressional seat. The Republican won countywide election despite Erie’s heavy Democratic constituency.

President Donald Trump won the district by 24 percentage points in 2016. A pick-up there would boost Democrats’ hopes of winning a net gain of 23 seats and taking control of the House in this year’s midterms.

Collins also said Saturday that he’s not immediately stepping down and will “fill out the remaining few months of my term.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Saturday said House Speaker Paul Ryan should call for Collins’ resignation from Congress.

“Speaker Ryan must call on Congressman Collins to resign. No person is above the law, not the President or his first supporter in Congress,” Pelosi said in a statement.

McMurray told CNN on Saturday afternoon that he supports Pelosi’s call for Collins to resign.

“He should step down immediately,” McMurray said. “I’m not sure what he’s trying to do, whether extend his pension or something else, but this has to end. Suspending his campaign is one thing, but he has to resign.”

Earlier Saturday, McMurray said he believes Collins faced pressure to stop the re-election campaign.

“I think he had a lot of pressure on him, and I like to think that some part of him knew it was the right thing to do,” McMurray said.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Stivers said in a statement that he respects Collins’ decision to step down.

“As I’ve said before, Congress must hold ourselves to the highest possible standards,” he added.</s>Republican Rep. Chris Collins has decided to suspend his campaign for reelection. He posted the following statement on Saturday morning:

Just three days ago, Rep. Collins was charged with insider trading related to his alleged usage of his position with an Australian biotech firm, Innate Immunotherapeutics, to help his family make stock trades to avoid over $750,000 in losses.

Collins was the first member of Congress to officially endorse Donald Trump way back in 2016. In addition to Collins, his son and the father of his son's fiancee also face charges. The charges include lying to the FBI in addition to insider trading.

This is a crazy 180 from just 72 hours ago when Collins gave a press conference to address the charges, state his innocence and his decision to remain in office and continue his campaign for reelection in November.

He said that charges were"meritless" and vowed to "mount a vigorous defense in court to clear my name." He went on to say: "I believe I acted properly and within the laws at all times. Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have followed all rules and ethical guidelines."

I guess someone got to him and convinced him to drop out. He has vowed to finish out his term, but lets see if that changes in the next few days. A reminder that Paul Ryan removed Collins from the House Energy and Commerce Committee just hours after the arrest.

The big question is this: can the GOP replace Collins on the ticket or is it too close? It is only 87 days until midterms, ballots have been printed and it would be impossible to get a new person out and on the ticket now. If Collins were to magically win, would he refuse the seat? Many unanswered questions.</s>Rep. Chris Collins Christopher (Chris) Carl CollinsCongress should prohibit members from serving on company boards The Hill's Morning Report: Where the Mueller probe stands Bill would ban House members from serving on boards of publicly held companies MORE’ (R-N.Y.) opponent, Grand Island Town Supervisor Nate McMurray came out swinging Saturday, calling for Collins' resignation.

McMurray slammed the Trump ally at a press conference following Collins’ announcement that he would be suspending his reelection campaign while he faces insider trading charges.

“Mr. Collins needed to suspend his campaign, but beyond that he needs to resign. … We need to have a clean break from this era of dark politics and corruption, of backroom deals. It needs to end.”

McMurray, who is running for New York's 27th Congressional District — a deeply red seat — also took aim at the Republican Party, claiming it would try to deceive voters should they try to replace Collins on the ticket.

“They’re going to reach deep into their bag of tricks. It’s going to be an ugly process, they’re going to try to manipulate you once again," McMurray said.

"They’re going to try to say, ‘well this is okay, this new guy, whoever we put in is going to be great.’ But can we believe that that same broken system that told us Chris Collins is a great person and will be a great representative of our region, do we believe that system works?” he continued.

Collins, who faces insider trading charges, turned himself in to the FBI on Wednesday.

Prosecutors allege that while serving on the board of pharmaceutical company Innate Immunotherapeutics, Collins gave nonpublic information about drug trial results to his family to make advantageous trades and to help avoid losing hundreds of thousands in investments.

Collins’ son, Cameron Collins, and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron Collins's fiancée, were also charged.

The Democratic challenger went on to denounce any potential replacement for Collins, implying their candidacy should be seen as illegitimate in the eyes of voters.

“Is it right that these same party bosses who betrayed your trust should have the opportunity to force on us some other alternative, to hit the reset button, to take a mulligan and say, ‘hey, everything we said about Chris Collins, forget it, it’s all good’?” he said.

At least two Republicans have already hinted their interest at taking Collins' place.

New York businessman and former gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino (R) and Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw (R) both tweeted out that they were "all in" Saturday, though it is unclear how the two men intend to get their names on the ballot. The campaign filing deadline passed in April.

McMurry attempted to cast his candidacy as one that transcends party and politics on Saturday.

“This is not a country of two warring camps. We’re a country of good people. … Don’t listen to the nonsense on television about how we’re supposed to hate each other. Let’s work together, let’s move beyond this party machine that forced Chris Collins on us," he said. "I don’t kiss rings, and nobody owns me.”
U.S. Representative Chris Collins (R–NY) announces that he is suspending his campaign for re-election in the 2018 midterms, intending to serve out the remainder of his term. Collins was arrested by the FBI on August 8 on charges relating to insider trading.