It’s Election Day in the 3rd Congressional District race to replace ousted former Congress member George Santos, and the inclement weather could throw an unexpected wrench into turnout.
Polling shows Democratic candidate Tom Suozzi and Republican candidate Mazi Pilip are neck-and-neck in a race that could have national implications as Republicans cling to the narrowest of majorities in the House.
Democrats and Republicans around the city – even nationally – are zooming in on this special election, where immigration, the conflict in the Middle East and chaos in Washington are taking center stage.
Turnout in the race was already expected to be low because it’s a special election, but as the region prepares for up to 8 inches of snow Tuesday and New York City public schools going remote, turnout may take a further hit as voters stay home to avoid potentially treacherous roads, adding another layer of the uncertainty to this election.
Election officials in the city and Nassau County say they plan to proceed as normal, with polling places remaining open.
So far, nearly 67,000 people cast their ballots in the race during the nine days of early voting, according to data from the city and Nassau county election boards. That’s about 13% of the roughly 530,000 active voters in the district.
Of those who voted early, 44% are registered Democrats, 33% are registered Republicans and 19% are unaffiliated voters, according to a Gothamist analysis of voter data from the city and Nassau County boards of election. Party registration, however, is no guarantee of how a person casts their ballot.
Republicans are banking that Pilip, a registered Democrat and two-term Nassau County legislator and her unique background as an Ethiopian-born immigrant from Israel and Orthodox Jewish mother of seven, will turn out enough voters for the party to retain control of this one-time Democratic district.
Democrats are pinning their hopes on Suozzi and his three decades of political experience…
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