Democratic hopeful slams GOP rival’s lack of campaigning in race to replace George Santos

When 2024 arrived, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-California) was overseeing a small Republican majority that had grown even smaller. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) had left Congress at the end of December, and ex-Rep. George Santos (R-New York) had been expelled — with more departures to come.

A special election to replace Santos will be held in New York's 3rd Congressional District, which includes areas of Queens and Long Island. And the race, journalist Brigid Bergin reports in an article published by Gothamist on January 17, is "being watched as an early test" for both Democrats and Republicans in "a district President Joe Biden won in 2020 by eight points, but where Republicans have made major gains in local elections in 2022 and 2023."

The contenders include Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican Mazi Pilip. Bergin notes that Pilip has "kept a low profile ahead of next month's special election" — and Suozzi's campaign has been attacking her for it.

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"Her campaign maintains that the Nassau County legislator is running hard," Bergin explains, "but her lack of visibility in the district — which spans from eastern Queens through the north shore of Long Island — is leading to head-scratching and frustration among some voters who are determined to get to know the candidates before the special election, especially following the scandals that plagued Santos over his ever-evolving and fictitious background."

Suozzi supporters, according to Bergin, "have turned Pilip's lack of public campaigning into a talking point while they hit the campaign trail."

"During an event last week in Sea Cliff on the north shore of Nassau County, where several environmental groups endorsed Suozzi, one of Pilip's colleagues in the Nassau County legislature said she was right when she described herself as 'not a talker' to the Long Island Press," Bergin reports.

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Gothamist's full report is available at this link.