As the New Year approaches, signs of an upcoming special election to fill the seat once held by former Rep. George Santos are popping up across New York’s third congressional district.
Even ahead of the general election in November, this is a race with national consequences, as Republicans’ majority control in the House shrunk after Santos was expelled from Congress. But it’s also an early test of whether the two major parties can earn the trust — and votes — of a community spurned by an elected official who’s become a pop culture figure for fabricating vast swaths of his background and now faces criminal charges.
In this early stage of the two-month sprint to the Feb. 13 election, voters in the district, which spans from eastern Queens through northern Nassau County, are still reeling from the shock of Santos even as national issues, including immigration and crime, are top of mind.
At the Carle Place diner on the southern edge of the district, not far from holiday-shopping hustle at the Roosevelt Field Mall, Maureen Marino, 72, and four of her friends since high school gathered for a holiday lunch. At the mention of Santos, she could barely contain her anger with local Republican leaders for failing to vet him.
“People voted for him,” said the retired kindergarten teacher, who was angry her party took his word about who he said he was. But what made her equally upset was the prospect that the seat could flip back from Republican to Democrat. She knew Democrats had picked former Rep. Tom Suozzi as their candidate and wasn’t yet familiar with Republicans’ choice.
Suozzi, who previously represented the area, spent the weekend with members of the carpenters union installing supersized law signs. He also put out a new television ad focused on his record of working across the aisle.
Political newcomer Mazi Pilip, the Republican candidate and a Nassau County legislator in her second term, began this week sitting down with media outlets interested in her…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply