Former Rep. George Santos on Thursday posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he will challenge incumbent Rep. Nick LaLota in the race for New York’s 1st Congressional District.

“New York hasn’t had a real conservative represent them since I left office arbitrarily, thanks to RINO, empty suits like @nicklalota. He is a willing to risk the future of our majority and the future of this country for his own political gain,” Santos wrote.

Santos would still need to petition to get on the ballot.

The tweet comes as Santos was spotted attending Thursday’s State of the Union address. Santos, like all former members of Congress, has floor privileges.

LaLota is a first-term congressman who was elected to his seat in 2022. The district covers a wide swath of eastern Long Island.

LaLota was one of the first House Republicans to call for a House Ethics Committee investigation into Santos after Santos admitted to falsifying portions of his resume in December 2022.

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, following Santos’ announcement Thursday, LaLota called Santos a “pathological liar who stole an election” and said he “led the charge to expel” him.

“If finishing the job requires beating him in a primary, count me in,” LaLota wrote.

Santos, like LaLota, was elected to his seat in 2022. He represented the 3rd Congressional District for 11 months before becoming only the sixth House member to be ousted from Congress in U.S. history last December.

He was indicted last October on 23 federal charges, including charges of wire fraud, identify theft and lying to election officials. Initial attempts to expel him failed, but he was eventually expelled by House members after a House Ethics Committee report found that there was “substantial evidence” that Santos “knowingly” violated federal laws and wrote they “amassed overwhelming evidence of his misconduct.”

In addition to his legal issues, Santos has been accused by journalists, acquaintances, business partners, fellow Republicans and former friends of lying for years about his career on Wall Street, academic credentials, athletic achievements, Hollywood roles, racial heritage, being the descendant of Holocaust survivors, losing his mother to the 9/11 terrorist attack and losing employees in the 2016 Orlando mass shooting at a gay nightclub that left 49 people dead.

The 1st Congressional District has been represented by a Republican for nearly a decade. Before LaLota was elected, Lee Zeldin represented the district for eight years after defeating incumbent Democrat Tim Bishop in the 2014 election. He gave up the seat to run for governor in 2022.

There are two leading Democrats, Nancy Goroff and John Avlon, vying for the seat this year. Both candidates told NY1 in interviews that Republicans in Washington, D.C are showing themselves to be incapable of governing, and that LaLota needs to go.

In a response Santos’ announcement, Avlon issued a statement that simply said, “Bring it on.”

Goroff tweeted that LaLota and Santos “are the same,” saying that they both “oppose a woman’s right to choose,” “failed to lower costs for working families” and “prefer publicity to getting things done.”

Asked about a potential Santos challenge of LaLota on Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said it will "be a spectacle to watch."

"Get your popcorn, be ready for a great show," she said.