Monthly Archives: February 2024

Hey, Tom Suozzi beat Mazi Pilip. Are you excited?

OK, I know it was only a congressional race in the New York suburbs. But he stomped her! The Democrats had been truly afraid that voters would be too cranky about the border and Biden Boredom to rally around a career politician whose greatest claim to fame was quite possibly his time as Nassau County executive.

Suozzi hardly super-embraced President Biden. (The bottom line is hes old.) But he was certainly less standoffish about his partys leader than Pilip, a Republican who spent most of the campaign declining to say who she voted for in 2020.

And this was, truly, a big Biden win. Congressional races are mainly about the party and its leaders. The candidates are sometimes very, very colorful. Or very, very scary. But the only thing that really matters is which side has the most votes. Thanks to the folks in New Yorks Third Congressional District, the Republican edge in the House is now even itsy-bitsier a mere three irritable members are enough to ruin any plan.

Feel free to dwell on this. Weve got nine months of presidential politics to get through. Nine months of Joe Bidens age and Donald Trumps well, you pick your favorite. For now lets go with his comments on NATO encouraging Russia to do whatever the hell they want to member states that dont pay up. Or his recent insistence that Taylor Swift is bound to come over to his side because he made her a lot of money. Or OK, I know you really dont want to go on.

Suozzi is not exactly a romantic figure. Hes a career politician who chose to not seek re-election to run unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, a decision that very temporarily gave America an unexpected gift: Representative George Santos.

Remember that? It was the first time Republicans elected an openly gay nonincumbent to the House. Very exciting for a minute or two, until we discovered Santos had lied about pretty much everything else: education, jobs, criminal history, kindness to animals. He did, however, make history on one front, becoming only the sixth member of the House to be kicked out of office by his comrades since the founding of the Republic.

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Opinion | Tom Suozzi Makes the Democrats Look Good for a New York Minute - The New York Times

Vice President Harris takes photos with young voters at South Carolina State University after a campaign rally ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary earlier this month. Keren Carrin/NPR hide caption

Vice President Harris takes photos with young voters at South Carolina State University after a campaign rally ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary earlier this month.

Young Black voters were a key part of the coalition that sent Joe Biden to the White House in 2020. Yet recent polls suggest that some of that support has eroded, with months to go until November's general election.

NPR traveled to South Carolina as Democrats kicked off their primary process and spoke with Black voters under age 35 about their views.

Several themes kept coming up: student debt and college affordability; abortion access; and affordable health care. Among union members, workers' rights were top of mind.

An SCSU drum line performs ahead of the vice president's campaign event on campus. Keren Carrin/NPR hide caption

An SCSU drum line performs ahead of the vice president's campaign event on campus.

The Biden campaign points to success in many of these areas, and Vice President Harris held an event at a historically Black college just before the primary, where she touted wins for voters, including lowering the price of insulin and college debt forgiveness.

But is that message winning people over? Here's what four young Black voters told us mattered to them and how they were thinking about politics in the year ahead.

Growing up in Columbia, S.C., Tarmon-Dre Robinson's family didn't talk a lot about politics. He's from a military family, and the few political conversations he remembers involved health care and the military's insurance system.

Robinson joined the South Carolina National Guard to fund his education, then enrolled at a technical college with plans to transfer to a four-year institution.

Tarmon-Dre Robinson, 24, is a student at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, S.C. Keren Carrin/NPR hide caption

Tarmon-Dre Robinson, 24, is a student at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, S.C.

"I think people should be able to wake up and say, 'Hey, I want to be educated,'" he said. "Having such a high price tag on education, it really knocks some people out of the bucket from ever being able to have that as a possibility for themselves."

These days, Robinson said he tried to stay away from politics as much as possible, and he didn't vote in 2020. He said he doesn't care for the negativity, and while he planned to vote this year, he hadn't decided who he was going to support in South Carolina's primaries.

"This is one of the first times ever in my life that I'm in the middle," he said, adding that he had not decided whether he would participate in the Democratic or the Republican primary.

"When you come to the Black community and you speak to us and you say, 'Hey, it's our vote that you want,' you should come with things that are going to impact and change our lives," he said. "I think the problem is saying you're going to do a thing for us and then nothing changes."

For Dalaisha Pickens, funding for historically Black colleges is a pressing issue. She is a freshman at Claflin University in Orangeburg.

"HBCUs are the heart of America," she said. "A lot of great talents and creativity and brilliance comes from HBCUs, public and private."

The Biden campaign has been running ads touting its funding for historically Black colleges, and Harris is an alumna of Howard University.

The vice president spoke the day before South Carolina's primary at South Carolina State University the state's only public HBCU and detailed her connections to the HBCU community in a way that seemed to resonate with the students.

"Having the vice president come from an HBCU herself, she knows the stories and the challenges we go through," Pickens said, adding that she planned to support Biden in the primary.

Naomi Harris, who teaches at a vocational school in Cayce, said she has been inundated with political information already this election season.

She is a member of the Union of Southern Service Workers and is particularly focused on workers' rights. She said former Gov. Nikki Haley and current South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster have been speaking "so bad and ill on unions."

"If you're running for presidency or, like, governor or something, you should be uplifting the people that you need your vote from, instead of down-talking all of them. I don't respect that," she said.

Naomi Harris, 22, is a teacher in Columbia, S.C., and is also part of the Union of Southern Service Workers. Keren Carrin/NPR hide caption

Naomi Harris, 22, is a teacher in Columbia, S.C., and is also part of the Union of Southern Service Workers.

Harris is a self-described socialist, and she declined to say who she was supporting in South Carolina's Democratic primary.

"I don't want to say exactly who I'm voting for, but I love how pro-union they are, and how their campaign is focused on putting the power back with the working class, and so I'm happy that she's running," she said.

The only woman who appeared on the ballot in South Carolina's Democratic primary was author Marianne Williamson.

Harris said that many of her peers were not excited about a potential rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump.

"I don't know anybody in my circle who wants to vote. People feel like if these are the options, they don't want no parts," she said, adding that she felt that was a mistake.

"Our votes count, whether people want to say it or not, our votes actually matter. So you don't go vote, you might as well vote for the person that we don't want in office."

Democratic strategists and activists in the state stress how important the messengers and the medium are in reaching voters like Harris' peers.

Brandon Upson, the executive director of the South Carolina Progressive Network, emphasized the importance of connecting with young voters in a way that makes sense to them.

"There's a lot more engagement, connection and intentionality that needs to happen to drill deep into our grassroots," he said.

Taleeya Jones was not old enough to participate when voters sent Trump to the White House in 2016. Now, she says she's enthusiastic to vote for the first time, and she's supporting Biden.

"When Donald Trump was elected the first time, I was shaking in my boots. At my age, I couldn't do anything about it," Jones said. "But now that I'm old enough, and I'm able to do something, I'm happy that I can."

Taleeya Jones, 20, and Symia Williamson, 21, students at South Carolina State University, cheer during Vice President Harris' speech in Orangeburg earlier this month. Keren Carrin/NPR hide caption

Taleeya Jones, 20, and Symia Williamson, 21, students at South Carolina State University, cheer during Vice President Harris' speech in Orangeburg earlier this month.

Jones, a student at South Carolina State University, described herself as "comfortable" with the Biden administration's record, particularly on the issue of college affordability.

Biden's initial student debt forgiveness plan was struck down by the Supreme Court. Then the administration developed a repayment plan that has been popular with many borrowers.

Biden's promise to forgive student loans is key for some voting groups, especially young people and Black borrowers. Black women, in particular, are disproportionately burdened by student debt.

"Now that they've paved the way for us to possibly have loan forgiveness, it can help us get through school knowing that whenever we graduate, we don't have to worry about how we're going to do this and do that," she said. "It makes me feel relief."

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We asked young Black voters about Biden and the Democrats. Here's what we learned - NPR

Tom Suozzi, a former Democratic congressman, won a closely watched special House election in New York on Tuesday, narrowing the Republican majority in Washington and offering his party a potential playbook to run in key suburban swing areas in November.

His larger than expected victory in the Queens and Long Island district avenged a year of humiliation unleashed by the seats former occupant, George Santos, and stanched a trend that had seen Republicans capture nearly every major election on Long Island since 2021.

Mr. Suozzi, 61, fended off the Republican nominee, Mazi Pilip, in a race that became an expensive preview of many of the fights expected to dominate Novembers general election, especially over the influx of migrants at the border and in New York City.

A well-known centrist, Mr. Suozzi distanced himself from his party, calling for harsher policies at the border and vowing to work with Republicans to fix a broken immigration system. Polls suggested the independent approach helped cut into Ms. Pilips advantage on the issue, as Democratic super PACs deluged her with ads attacking her as anti-abortion.

In the end, the race also became an old-fashioned local contest over turnout as a rare Election Day snowstorm blanketed Long Island. The 11th-hour twist most likely helped Democrats, who had turned out in larger numbers during early voting despite Republicans vaunted Nassau County machine.

With 93 percent of votes counted, Mr. Suozzi had won 54 percent of the vote compared with 46 percent for Ms. Pilip, according to The Associated Press.

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New York Special Election: Tom Suozzi Wins House Seat Vacated by George Santos - The New York Times

Tom Suozzi, the Democrat in New Yorks 3rd congressional race, is well-known on Long Island.

Twenty years ago, he was a mayor and rising star in the Democratic Party. Now, at 61, Suozzi is in a neck-and-neck race with little-known Republican Mazi Pilip, and barely mentions in his ads that he is a Democrat.

And a clip from one of his ill-fated runs for governor purporting to show him soft on immigration is now a staple of Republican attack ads against him.

In 1993, Suozzi was elected mayor of Glen Cove, a small city on Long Island, one of the few bright spots for Democrats at the time. In 2001, he won a hard-fought primary for Nassau County executive, and defeated the Republican candidate in the general election, capturing a seat that had been held by Republicans for years. As a certified public accountant, Suozzi billed himself as a technocrat who could lower taxes and crime while boosting the economy and local services.

From the countys executive office, Suozzi aimed higher and waged a primary campaign for governor against the partys preferred candidate, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Suozzi got crushed in that 2006 primary, and in 2009, he narrowly lost his bid for a third term as county executive. In 2013, Suozzi lost a race to recapture the county executive seat.

After a few years in the private sector, Suozzi returned to electoral politics, winning a congressional seat that included parts of Nassau County and Queens. Suozzi held the seat for three terms, casting himself as a moderate.

In 2020, he fended off a little-known Republican challenger named George Santos. And in 2022, Suozzi chose not to seek reelection, opting instead to run another primary campaign for governor. This time, he ran against Kathy Hochul, who was elevated to the position in August 2021 when Andrew M. Cuomo resigned amid accusations he harassed several women.

Hochul defeated Suozzi and another primary challenger, but not before Suozzi bragged during a debate that he kicked ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] out of Nassau County.

That clip is now featured in a host of Republican attack ads in the congressional race.

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Who is Tom Suozzi, Democrat in New York's special election - The Washington Post

In a big win for House Democrats, Tom Suozzi won the special election in New York's 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday. His victory over Republican Mazi Pilip means he'll fill the House seat of disgraced former Republican Rep. George Santos.

Heres why the special election took place and why it matters beyond New York.

Santos was kicked out of the House of Representatives last December in a bipartisan vote following the release of a report from the House Ethics Committee that found there was substantial evidence he had violated campaign finance laws. Santos became the sixth House member ever to be expelled.

NY-03 includes the Long Island suburbs and a small portion of Queens. Voters decided Tuesday that Suozzi will fill Santoss seat to complete the 11 months remaining in his term.

Suozzi and Republican Mazi Pilip went head to head for Santoss seat.

At the time the Associated Press called the vote, Suozzi had 59% of the vote, while Pilip had 41%. Pilip conceded and congratulated Suozzi. Both candidates are likely to face off again this year in November since they have both committed to run for full congressional terms.

Suozzi, a moderate Democrat, had the benefit of name recognition since he previously represented NY-03 for six years. He gave up his seat when he ran for governor, but lost to Kathy Hochul, in 2022.

Pilip is a county lawmaker and Ethiopian immigrant who migrated to Israel when she was 12. She served in the Israel Defense Forces before moving to the U.S. While a registered Democrat, she was elected to the Nassau County Legislature as a Republican.

Since Suozzi flipped the seat for Democrats, Republicans now have an even thinner majority over Democrats in the House (219-213). That means Republicans can only afford two defections from their GOP colleagues on key votes at a time when they have struggled to maintain unity on key legislation.

House Democrats now gain even greater leverage and could force Republicans to work across the aisle in order to pass legislation.

On a national level, Suozzi's win in NY-03 could provide a messaging guide for Democrats competing in similar districts in the presidential election this November, especially when it comes to issues like immigration and border security. As New York deals with a massive influx of migrants, Suozzi held a firm line on the issue and even called on President Biden to temporarily close the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Democrat Tom Suozzi wins special election to fill George Santos's House seat. Here's why it matters beyond New York. - Yahoo News

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

On Tuesday,Democrat Tom Suozzi was elected to replace indicted former GOP Rep. George Santos of New York in a special House election widely viewed as a bellwether contestahead of the presidential election.

Suozzi, who represented New Yorks 3rd Congressional District for three terms before stepping down in 2022 to run for governor of the state, will reclaim his old House seat following Santos expulsion nearly two months ago. Santos brief career in Congress was filled with seemingly endless scandal: He now faces 23 federal criminal charges, including money laundering, wire fraud, and lying on congressional disclosure forms.

The lead-up to election night in the swing district was notably tense, with Suozzi holding a narrow lead in the polls against his opponent, Mazi Pilip, a Nassau County legislator whom Suozzi referred to as Santos 2.0. According to a recent poll from Emerson College, Pilipa former Israel Defense Forces paratrooperwas more popular among voters on issues like Israels war in Gaza and border security; Suozzi was more trusted on abortion and the Ukraine war.

The special election comes after significant Republican gains in New York, a state that traditionally votes blue. In recent years, several New York Republicanshave found success at the polls by taking a tough-on-crime stance. As my colleague Noah Lanard wrote in late 2022:

Nationally in this years midterms, Republicans mostly failed in efforts to weaponize rising crime rates. But in New York, they were remarkably successful. Heading into the election, 28 percent of New Yorkersrankedcrime as their top prioritymore than any other issuein contrast, only 5 percent of voters listed crime or guns as their top concerns in anational survey that month. The year before this election, Republicans had used the same crime messaging to great effect on Long Island, where moderate Democrats lost in races they were initially favored to win.

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Democrat Wins Special Election for George Santos' House Seat Mother Jones - Mother Jones

As I prepared to write this ahead of Tuesdays special election to replace George Santos in New Yorks Third District, two completely different outcomes seemed easy to imagine or explain away.

One was that the results would be excellent for Democrats, like most special elections this year. If their strength was just about the low turnout, it might not say much about their appeal to the wider electorate this November.

Another was that the result would be excellent for Republicans, as New York and Long Island have been for Republicans over the last few years. If so, it might just be another New York romp, with little meaning for the rest of the country.

Either way, the special election could not tell us much about President Bidens chances in the general election.

In the end, it was a triumph for the Democrats. Tom Suozzi, a former Democratic representative, defeated the Republican Mazi Pilip by just under eight points (54 percent to 46 percent) as of this writing.

The result is significant in one sense: It puts Democrats one seat closer to retaking the House, and thats no small matter when Republicans entered the night clinging to a thin majority.

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Not an Ordinary Special Election, and Yet a Typical Result - The New York Times

Former President Donald Trump accused Nikki Haley of being a Democrat on Wednesday, days before a pivotal 2024 primary in the former U.N. ambassadors home state.

Shes getting clobbered by the Democrats, Trump claimed during a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Even though she probably is one, he continued. I think she probably is.

Trump backed up the accusation that Haley, the last remaining opponent in the 2024 Republican primary, is a Democrat by noting instances of Democratic donors giving to her campaign or affiliated super PACs.

Nikki has gone so far left because of her Democrat donors, he told a crowd of supporters. Shes actually got very little money now because they all gave up because shes getting like there was one poll that says she has no chance.

The radical-left Democrats want Nikki Haley because they know shes easy to beat, he claimed. However, in polls where Biden defeats Haley, he often defeats Trump by a similar margin.

The former president also pointed to the fact that the South Carolina Republican primary is open, as the state doesnt have party registration. Nikki Haley is pushing Democrats to vote, he said. So if you dont want liberals and Marxists to meddle in your primary, which they shouldnt be able to do, then you have to get out and get every patriot you know to come out next week and vote.

During the rally, Trump also pushed back on perceived gaffes he has made on the campaign trail. He claimed that hes imitated Biden on occasion, appearing to be lost trying to get off the stage, and that the fake news frames it as Trump, himself, having a problem. These are very dishonest, he said.

Further, he claimed a recent moment when he seemingly mistook Haley for Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was also purposeful. Its very hard to be sarcastic, he explained. When I purposely interpose names, they said he didnt know Pelosi from Nikki.

Haley has used the apparent slip-ups to question the 77-year-old Trumps mental fitness for office. Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment but attacked the former president on Wednesday night for attempting to clean up his mess.

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Its the same script every time: Donald Trump says something unhinged, faces backlash, and scrambles to clean up his mess with a dirty mop, said Haley spokeswoman AnnMarie Graham-Barnes. Seventy percent of Americans dont want Joe Bidens forgetfulness or Trumps perpetual chaos machine.

Trump is expected to defeat Haley in the South Carolina Republican primary on Feb. 24, with the most recent Winthrop University poll showing him 36 points ahead of her. He posted 65% in the survey of likely primary voters to Haleys 29%.

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Trump slams Democrat Nikki Haley on home turf ahead of South Carolina primary: Shes finished - Washington Examiner