Democrat Wins Special Election for George Santos’ House Seat Mother Jones – Mother Jones

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.

Read more:

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