Former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi Wins Special Election To Succeed George Santos

Overcoming dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden and a surge in migrant arrivals that has played to Republican strengths , former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi , a Democrat, won Tuesday’s special election to succeed ex-Rep. George Santos in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

Suozzi defeated Nassau County Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip , a Republican, in a Long Island and northeast Queens seat that is nearly identical to the one he previously represented for three terms.

Suozzi had vacated the seat in 2022 to mount a quixotic bid for governor, prompting an open race where Santos, a Republican and federally indicted serial fabulist, won. (Congress expelled Santos in December, prompting the special election.)

Democrats’ takeover of a GOP-held swing seat at once narrows Republicans’ already slim majority in the House, and provides a much-needed jolt of momentum for the party in the White House.

“Getting a win in a tough special election in a district that was trending red is a big boost and shows Democrats continue to defy expectations,” said Eric Koch, a spokesperson for Battleground New York, a progressive coalition fighting to help Democrats win the five Empire State House seats that Biden carried in 2020.

Biden carried New York’s 3rd by eight percentage points in 2020, but polling currently shows him losing the district in a head-to-head rematch against former President Donald Trump. Suozzi’s victory suggests that there is a playbook for Democrats in swing seats struggling to overcome Biden’s unpopularity and frustration over the influx of asylum-seekers and other migrants that has occurred on Biden’s watch.

Suozzi affirmed his commitment to border security in two TV ads, and in the final days of the campaign, slammed