Democrat Tom Suozzi Flips Former Rep. George Santos’ House Seat

On Tuesday, Democrat Tom Suozzi won a special election that was held to replace recently ousted Rep. George Santos.

Suozzi held this seat, representing the third district of New York, in the House of Representatives for six years before an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2022.

Suozzi reclaimed his spot in Congress by defeating Republican Mazi Pilip in a tightly contested race. The race quickly became centered around current hot-button issues, potentially giving Democrats a guide to winning upcoming elections for contested congressional seats in November.

Suozzi was hit with attack ads about his stance on immigration by his opponent, and he quickly fired back with ads of his own stressing his support for the now-dead bipartisan congressional border bill. He also attacked Pilip in an ad showing her declaring herself pro-life. And, in a district with a high Jewish population, Suozzi stood strong in his support for Israel.

On the border, Suozzi said that at times, he has defied his own party while in Congress, and on the Israel-Hamas war he argued, he would counterbalance left-wing Democrats, who will try and slash aid to Israel.

Suozzi also out-raised Pilip by three to one and spent $13 million during the eight-week campaign, compared to Pilip’s $6.2 million.

Nassau County, which makes the bulk of the district, went to Biden by eight points in the 2020 election but is historically a swing district. Republicans have made some headway in the area as of 2020. Besides the congressional seat, the GOP controls nearly every elected position in the county.

President Joe Biden called late Tuesday to congratulate Suozzi on his win, and in his statement, tied Pilip to Trump, citing her as an example of the political damage caused by the former president.

“Donald Trump lost again tonight. When Republicans run on Trump’s extreme agenda – even in a Republican-held seat – voters reject them,” read a statement from the campaign.

Pilip, however, did not endorse Trump and has said she would not support him in the general election if he was convicted of a crime.

Trump took to Truth Social, his social media platform, on Wednesday to denounce Pilip as a “foolish woman.”

Trump said in his post, “I have an almost 99% Endorsement Success Rate in Primaries, and a very good number in the General Elections, as well, but just watched this very foolish woman, Mazi Melesa Pilip, running in a race where she didn’t endorse me and tried to ‘straddle the fence,’ when she would have easily WON if she understood anything about MODERN DAY politics in America.”

Suozzi’s victory whittles the Republican’s House slim majority down to merely six votes, 219-213, with full attendance. The seat will be up for grabs again in November, however, where there might be a rematch between the two, this time for a full term.

Article by Clark Franzman