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

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

On Tuesday, Democrat Tom Suozzi was elected to switch indicted former GOP Rep. George Santos of New York in a particular Home election extensively considered as a bellwether contest forward of the presidential election.

Suozzi, who represented New York’s third Congressional District for 3 phrases earlier than stepping down in 2022 to run for governor of the state, will reclaim his previous Home seat following Santos’ expulsion practically two months in the past. Santos’ transient profession in Congress was full of seemingly countless scandal: He now faces 23 federal legal expenses, together with cash laundering, wire fraud, and mendacity on congressional disclosure kinds.

The lead-up to election night time within the swing district was notably tense, with Suozzi holding a slim lead within the polls in opposition to his opponent, Mazie Pilip, a Nassau County legislator whom Suozzi known as “Santos 2.0.” In keeping with a current ballot from Emerson Faculty, Pilip—a former Israel Protection Forces paratrooper—was extra widespread amongst voters on points like Israel’s struggle in Gaza and border safety; Suozzi was extra trusted on abortion and the Ukraine struggle.

The particular election comes after important Republican positive factors in New York, a state that historically votes blue. In recent times, a number of New York Republicans have discovered success on the polls by taking a tough-on-crime stance. As my colleague Noah Lanard wrote in late 2022:

Nationally on this yr’s midterms, Republicans largely failed in efforts to weaponize rising crime charges. However in New York, they had been remarkably profitable. Heading into the election, 28 p.c of New Yorkers ranked crime as their high precedence—greater than some other difficulty—in distinction, solely 5 p.c of voters listed crime or weapons as their high considerations in a nationwide survey that month. The yr earlier than this election, Republicans had used the identical crime messaging to nice impact on Lengthy Island, the place reasonable Democrats misplaced in races they had been initially favored to win.