Long Island votes on replacement for disgraced Republican George Santos

The replacement for George Santos, the disgraced Republican who was expelled from US Congress last year, is set to be decided on Tuesday, as New Yorkers head to the polls in what has become a closely watched election nationwide.

Voters in Long Island, east of New York City, face a choice between Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who previously spent six years in Congress, and Mazi Pilip, a relatively unknown local politician, in an election that will affect Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of Representatives.

But more than that, the Suozzi-Pilip race has become a test for what the US can expect in the run-up to November’s elections.

Immigration, the economy, abortion and aid to Israel have proved key issues, and politicians around the country will be looking to see whether Suozzi, a moderate Democrat, is able to navigate his attachment to an unpopular president who is dealing with a much-politicized situation at the US-Mexico border.

Pilip, who was relatively unknown before the local Republican party selected her to run, has repeatedly attacked Suozzi over immigration – a tactic likely to be repeated in nationwide elections later this year. Suozzi has sought to tie Pilip to Donald Trump – who remains unpopular – and the anti-abortion movement.

The seat is seen as a key indicator of voter sentiment before the expected Joe Biden-Donald Trump election in the fall. The demographic of New York’s third congressional district is seen as a political bellwether, is largely suburban, and was one of 18 districts that Biden won in 2020, but voted for a Republican House representative in 2022.

Biden won the district in 2020, but the area swung Republican in the 2022 midterm elections, when Santos was elected.

Santos was expelled from Congress