Read Newsday&#39;s complete coverage of the special election&nbsp;between Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip&nbsp;to replace George Santos in New York&#39;s&nbsp;3rd Congressional District.

Long Island

Politics

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Scott Eidler

Mazi Melesa Pilip, an enrolled&nbsp;Democrat&nbsp;who ran unsuccessfully in the 3rd Congressional District, has switched her party registration to Republican,&nbsp;officials said. 
Pilip, 44, of Great Neck, had been registered as a Democrat when she ran in the Feb. 13 special election on the Republican and Conservative lines. 
Democrat Tom&nbsp;Suozzi, who will be sworn in on Wednesday,&nbsp;defeated Pilip by 8 percentage points. 
Pilip&nbsp;had been a&nbsp;registered Democrat for years when Republicans picked&nbsp;her to run for county legislature in 2021. She&nbsp;unseated a Democrat in Nassau's 10th District and was reelected in November.&nbsp;She caucuses&nbsp;with Republicans in the chamber and has been a reliable GOP vote.&nbsp; 
Republican officials had brushed off her party registration as a nonissue in the congressional race. Pilip later&nbsp;said she planned to switch parties after the election. 
&quot;It's official,&quot; she wrote in&nbsp;an Instagram post on Monday, with a clip from the song &quot;Let's Do This,&quot; by&nbsp;Outskrts.&nbsp;&quot;While I have always served as a member of the Majority in the County Legislature, I was registered in another party. I am proud to be part of and registered as a Republican.&quot; 
In a statement, Nassau Republican chairman Joseph Cairo said the Democratic Party had &quot;abandoned&quot; Pilip and that she &quot;embraces Republican values and ideals.&quot;

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Mazi Melesa Pilip, GOP's candidate in the 3rd District special election, joins party

Mazi Melesa Pilip switches to GOP after 3rd District loss

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Paul LaRocco and Scott Eidler

Branding a political opponent “extreme” — on immigration,&nbsp;abortion or other issues — has become a go-to attack for&nbsp;Republicans and Democrats. 
The high-stakes Feb. 13 special election in New York’s 3rd Congressional District was no exception. But the unique contours of the race and its district limited the tactic's effect, even in an age of deep polarization, according to political analysts. 
Democrat Tom Suozzi’s decisive win&nbsp;to replace expelled GOP Rep. George Santos came despite Republicans’ efforts to paint him as extreme on immigration. Mailers and TV ads blamed him&nbsp;and President Joe Biden for the influx of migrants at the U.S. southern border. The Republican nominee, Mazi Melesa Pilip, frequently referred to the “Biden-Suozzi&nbsp;Open Border Policy.” 
Suozzi’s long-standing reputation as a political moderate&nbsp;blunted the attacks. So did his&nbsp;efforts to go on the offensive, distancing himself from Biden and&nbsp;criticizing Pilip&nbsp;as extreme for not supporting a bipartisan U.S. Senate border security bill&nbsp;that&nbsp;was quickly spiked by the GOP-led House in early February. He said her failure to support it would endanger Israel's security, since a U.S. aid package for its war with Hamas was tied to the legislation. 
Democrats&nbsp;tried&nbsp;to define the little-known Pilip, a second-term Nassau County legislator, as “extreme” on abortion rights. They cited her acceptance of the Conservative Party line and sidestepping&nbsp;of questions such as whether she’d support codifying abortion rights into federal law.&nbsp; 
Pilip had stated&nbsp;early on&nbsp;she wouldn’t support a national ban favored by some on the far right&nbsp;and that&nbsp;she wouldn't “force” her pro-life views on others. 
Lobbing the extremist charge is too tempting to pass up when campaigning in a moderate district like the 3rd, said&nbsp;Christopher Malone, a political science professor and&nbsp;associate provost at Farmingdale State College.&nbsp; 
“Voters hate it,” Malone said. But, “In a district that is moderate, you're&nbsp;trying to paint your opponent as out of touch.” 
The 3rd District covers&nbsp;Nassau's North Shore, dips&nbsp;south into Levittown and Massapequa and includes&nbsp;a portion of northeastern Queens. Suozzi, 61, of Glen Cove, who represented the district&nbsp;from 2017 to 2022, defeated Pilip, 44, of Great Neck, by nearly 8 percentage points. Neither responded to requests&nbsp;for comment for&nbsp;this story. 
The margin&nbsp;was nearly identical to&nbsp;the 2022&nbsp;race between Santos and Democrat Robert Zimmerman. Santos was&nbsp;expelled from Congress less than a year later&nbsp;following allegations he defrauded campaign donors for personal profit. He has pleaded not guilty to&nbsp;23 federal criminal charges.&nbsp; 
Suozzi, set to&nbsp;be sworn in on Wednesday, will serve the balance of Santos' term and&nbsp;have&nbsp;to run for a full two-year term in November.&nbsp; 
While&nbsp;a special election typically draws&nbsp;fewer voters&nbsp;than a general election, those voters tend to be more politically knowledgeable, analysts said. 
“The voters that are going to be turning out on both sides&nbsp;are going&nbsp;to be a little more sophisticated voters,” said Lisa Parshall, a professor of political science&nbsp;at Daemen University in upstate Amherst. 
“With a special election, it maybe gave Suozzi a little more latitude to take attacks knowing voters could appreciate some nuance,” Parshall said.&nbsp;“He didn't&nbsp;run away from it, he confronted it.” 
<h2>Proven playbook?</h2> 
The playbook that Nassau Republicans turned to in the special election hadn't failed them in recent ones.&nbsp; 
Hot-button issues such as public safety, bail reform,&nbsp;migrants and affordability&nbsp;have helped them dominate&nbsp;since 2021, flipping&nbsp;multiple offices, including&nbsp;the 3rd and 4th Congressional districts.&nbsp; 
When Republicans started to hammer&nbsp;Democrats on issues such as crime, “I remember people called me a fearmonger,” Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, a Republican who won&nbsp;the 4th District in 2022,&nbsp;told an audience of&nbsp;Nassau&nbsp;Republicans&nbsp;last month. 
As the special election campaign began, the GOP expected crime to again be an issue,&nbsp;joined this time by immigration. 
“I’m running for Congress to slam the door on the extreme policies of Tom Suozzi and Joe Biden and secure our borders,” Pilip said&nbsp;on numerous occasions. 
Her campaign spokesman called Suozzi “<a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/elections/tom-suozzi-mazi-pilip-kqn4jb5k">the godfather of the border crisis</a>,” a line that Suozzi said evoked Italian-American stereotypes. She said he established the “first migrant center on the East Coast.” 
She referred to&nbsp;his time as Glen Cove mayor, when day laborers&nbsp;crowded streets as they vied for jobs. The city worked with nonprofits to establish an indoor gathering spot for day laborers and offered them job training and English classes. 
Republicans also latched onto Suozzi's&nbsp;2018 quip that he was an “honorary member” of the Squad after&nbsp;the group of four&nbsp;progressive House Democrats faced&nbsp;social media attacks from&nbsp;then-President Donald Trump.&nbsp; 
The suggestion that he was an “extreme” liberal Squad member, Suozzi told Pilip in their&nbsp;sole debate early this month,&nbsp;was&nbsp;“about as believable as you being a member of George Santos’&nbsp;volleyball team.” The reference was to one&nbsp;of Santos' claims that he starred on the&nbsp;volleyball team of the college he never attended.&nbsp; 
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Queens), a Squad member, disputed the comparison as “laughable.” 
“To claim something like that in a backyard that knows him, it really shows that they're reaching and they're pretty desperate to try to land a punch there,” she told CNN on election night. 
Laura Curran, a former Democratic Nassau County executive who served from 2018 through 2021, said 3rd District voters showed more caution. 
“Yeah, Santos got one over on them, but in fact that sort of made them a little more careful in making their choice,” she said.&nbsp;“Don't assume that they're going to swallow everything that you're going to give them, even if it's an issue that they care about.” 
Former Rep.&nbsp;Peter King, a Seaford Republican who served 28 years in the House before retiring in 2020, said&nbsp;both sides engaged in “tough rhetoric.” 
Nassau Republican chairman Joseph Cairo defended the party's campaign. 
“We didn't fabricate anything, we didn't lie,” Cairo said, adding that Democrats misrepresented Pilip's&nbsp;stances on abortion.&nbsp; 
<h2>Democrats&nbsp;also tried tactic</h2> 
One of the earliest attacks on Pilip was the contention that she was “hand-picked” by some of the national GOP's most “extreme” conservatives. A&nbsp;television ad flashed pictures of Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado. 
Pilip was chosen by Cairo, who backed her bids for county legislator, and Queens GOP chairman Tony&nbsp;Nunziato. 
And in a district where Trump remains&nbsp;polarizing, Democrats&nbsp;labeled Pilip, a registered Democrat,&nbsp;as&nbsp;a “MAGA” supporter who dodged questions about gun control and abortion rights and would vote against both&nbsp;if elected. 
A Democrat-backed ad featured her comment, “I am pro-life,” but excluded her saying she wouldn't force her views on others.&nbsp; 
The ads&nbsp;ran counter to Pilip's&nbsp;stated opposition to the use of assault weapons by civilians and a national abortion ban. She declined to say whether she supported a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons, such as&nbsp;AR-15s.&nbsp; 
“She’s just taking these extreme positions and being led around by the party leaders both from Washington and locally,” Suozzi said during their debate. 
At a Sunday&nbsp;forum last month at The Chabad of Oyster Bay, Pilip said her&nbsp;opponents were “picturing me the most&nbsp;extreme human being.&quot; 
“I made it so clear,” she said of her position on abortion. 
Labeling an opponent “extreme” has its limits, said Malone, the Farmingdale professor. But&nbsp;“it works better when your&nbsp;opponent&nbsp;is not well known among the electorate,” he added. 
“That's when you really hammer them,” he said, “because you're trying to define them for the voter, and not let them define themselves.”

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'Extreme' charges against Tom Suozzi, Mazi Pilip rejected in moderate 3rd District

Voters rejected 'extreme' labels in 3rd District special election

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Scott Eidler and Paul LaRocco

Democrat Tom Suozzi&nbsp;won the 3rd Congressional District special election by&nbsp;dominating in traditionally Democratic areas from&nbsp;Port Washington to Plainview,&nbsp;and faring better than expected&nbsp;in the Republican-leaning communities of&nbsp;Levittown and Farmingdale, a Newsday analysis of election&nbsp;board data shows. 
Suozzi beat Republican-backed Mazi Melesa Pilip by 8 points in the district, which covers northeastern Queens, Nassau's North Shore&nbsp;and dips south to Levittown and Massapequa.&nbsp; 
In Nassau, home to 80% of district residents, Suozzi beat Pilip by 5&nbsp;points. According to data from the Nassau County Board of Elections. His margin of victory in the Queens portion was 23%, New York City Board of Elections data shows. 
Suozzi and Pilip ran up the score in different areas of the 3rd. 
Suozzi captured two-thirds of the vote in Jericho, Plainview&nbsp;and Old Bethpage,&nbsp;and three-quarters of the vote in Port Washington, Nassau election board data shows. All are Democratic-leaning districts. 
Pilip performed well across her home community of Great Neck, scoring more than 60% in various communities on the peninsula, including affluent villages on Long Island Sound.&nbsp;In Kings Point, she beat Suozzi 88% to 12%, and in Saddle Rock she won 90% of the vote. She got about two-thirds of the vote in Massapequa, North Massapequa&nbsp;and Massapequa Park, data shows. 
“Even in areas that we didn’t do well in, we picked up more votes than we would’ve thought,” said Jay Jacobs, state and Nassau&nbsp;Democratic Chairman. 
Jacobs said he believed Suozzi did well among the 30,547 independent voters who accounted for&nbsp;21% of special election voters.&nbsp;“This time the unaffiliated voters&nbsp;went with us,” Jacobs said. 
Former Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), a vice chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee who helped select Pilip to run, said: “She didn't do as well in the red districts as she should have, and he did better in some of the blue areas than we expected.” 
Newsday based its analysis on preliminary vote totals by precinct from the Nassau County and New York City boards of elections. Vote totals will be certified after military and absentee ballots are counted. 
<h2>Where both did well</h2> 
Suozzi's widest margins of victory came in areas such as&nbsp;New Cassel, where he captured 90% of the vote, and Port Washington, where he beat Pilip 73% to 26%. In Plainvew,&nbsp;Old Bethpage&nbsp;and Jericho, Suozzi won by 64 to 36%, while in Westbury Suozzi won 69% to 31%. 
Kim Keiserman, president of the Port Washington Democratic Club, said her group built a seasoned canvassing operation after&nbsp;Republican Donald Trump became president in 2017.&nbsp;Many in the club understood that, with the special election, “this is the time we have to come together and get this done. This is kind of make or break for Democrats on Long Island,” Keiserman said. 
“It was really energizing to see how the rest of the country cared about this race. Usually in the past we’ve been the ones writing postcards to people in Georgia or Wisconsin,” in get-out-the-vote campaigns on behalf of Democrats.&nbsp;“To be receiving these postcards from people across the country, who cared about us and about Democrats, was incredibly energizing and mobilizing.”&nbsp; 
Pilip dominated in the Great Neck peninsula, part of the district she represents as a Nassau County legislator. In Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Gardens and Great Neck Plaza, Pilip garnered nearly 60% of the vote. She far outperformed expelled former GOP Rep. George Santos, who won the 3rd District in 2022 and was expelled from Congress Dec. 1. Santos beat Democrat Robert Zimmerman by 8 points<a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/3rd-district-special-election-suozzi-pilip-va40vpzj?utm_campaign=Point-Newsletter"> in those communities in 2022</a>,&nbsp;Nassau County Board of Election data&nbsp;shows. 
“She's dedicated so much of her time to the public. People who know her voted for her,” said Great Neck Village Mayor Pedram Bral, who endorsed Pilip but acknowledged Suozzi's experience and name recognition. 
<h2>Expectations</h2> 
Pilip, as expected, dominated in the southeasternmost portion of the district, winning two-thirds of the vote in Massapequa, Massapequa Park&nbsp;and&nbsp;North Massapequa. But in East Massapequa, Suozzi got&nbsp;six more votes than Pilip, election returns show. 
Suozzi partially neutralized Pilip's advantage in surrounding areas that also were expected to skew strongly Republican. Pilip received 53% of the total vote in Levittown, Plainedge, Bethpage, South Farmingdale, Farmingdale&nbsp;and Hicksville, with Suozzi winning narrowly in the latter two communities. 
Suozzi's 6-point loss to Pilip in that area&nbsp;— where Suozzi is well-known from his days as Nassau County executive and as a former 3rd District congressman who fought for federal funds to clean up&nbsp;groundwater contamination — contrasts with Zimmerman's&nbsp;37-point loss to Santos in the same communities in 2022. 
In that higher turnout election, Santos was boosted by the strong top-of-the-ticket performance of GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin. 
In the special election, Suozzi also made inroads in the northern portion of Republican-run Oyster Bay. By slight margins, Suozzi won Mill Neck and Cove Neck. In Upper Brookville, Suozzi and Pilip tied with 239 votes apiece, while in 2022 Santos defeated Zimmerman by&nbsp;60% to 40% — 423 votes to 287. 
Farmingdale Village Mayor Ralph Ekstrand, a Republican who endorsed Suozzi, said Suozzi's experience and reputation as a moderate&nbsp;made him more appealing to people who otherwise may have voted Republican. 
Ekstrand&nbsp;cited Suozzi's track record of delivering federal funds to 3rd District communities. Ekstrand called Pilip an unknown quantity who, like Santos, would quickly need to&nbsp;get up to speed.&nbsp;Santos was unsuccessful in his efforts&nbsp;to bring&nbsp;$11 million to Farmingdale Village for treating groundwater contamination, Ekstrand said. 
“Do I want someone like that to get my $11 million grant, or do I want someone with no experience?” Ekstrand, said.&nbsp;“I need somebody to deliver for my residents.” 
<h2>Early voting</h2> 
Going into Election Day, Democrats had a 4,320-vote advantage over Pilip&nbsp;from the early voting period, Feb. 3-11, Nassau Board of Elections data show. In Queens, Democrats had a 3,060-vote edge. 
Democrats' widest margin was in New Cassel, where 1,109 party members cast ballots at the Yes We Can Community Center, compared with 230 Republicans, a split of 70% to 14%.&nbsp; 
The most votes cast&nbsp;at a single early polling place —&nbsp;8,278 —&nbsp;were logged at&nbsp;the Mid Island Y JCC in Plainview, where the split was 56% Democrat to 24% Republican. 
Republicans accounted for 54% of the 7,293 voters at Massapequa Town Hall, while Democrats cast 25% of votes there. At the&nbsp;Oyster Bay Ice Rink in Bethpage, Republicans made up 49% of the 4,501&nbsp;voters, while 27% were Democrats. 
Democrats voted more heavily at Great Neck House, in Pilip's home community: 2,692 to 2,543. But many Pilip supporters, like the candidate herself, are&nbsp;registered Democrats. 
<h2>Getting out the vote</h2> 
At Republican headquarters in Franklin Square on Monday, elected officials from across the 3rd District made&nbsp;a strong get-out-the-vote push. 
Nassau GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo introduced Oyster Bay Supervisor Joe Saladino, who lives in Massapequa, where his&nbsp;name appeared on campaign signs endorsing Pilip.&nbsp; 
“To my Italian friends, Mazi ends in a vowel,” Saladino told the crowd. 
In December, Suozzi told Newsday about his plans for winning&nbsp;the 3rd District race, including dispatching of surrogates such as his wife Helene Suozzi to campaign for him. 
Suozzi drew a map on a piece of paper, making&nbsp;circles around 16 different areas. 
“The really tough area,” he said of Bethpage, the Massapequas, Levittown and Hicksville. “That's MAGA&nbsp;country.” 
Of northern Great Neck, he said: “I'm going to get killed … ” 
But Suozzi&nbsp;said the northern portion of Oyster Bay, is&nbsp;“a good base for me,” pointing to his hometown of&nbsp;Glen Cove, as well as&nbsp;Sea Cliff, Jericho, Syosset, Woodbury,&nbsp;Plainview and Old Bethpage. 
“I can do very well there.” 
Suozzi won&nbsp;all those communities, election data shows.

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Tom Suozzi and Mazi Melesa Pilip: Where they got their votes in Congress race

Suozzi and Pilip: Where they got their votes

Election 2024 House New York

Democrat Tom Suozzi won the 3rd Congressional District special election for a position previously held by Republican George Santos. So what changed?&nbsp;NewsdayTV&rsquo;s Joye Brown reports.

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Democrat Tom Suozzi did better than expected in GOP-leaning communities 

long island

Newsday

'A not-so-gentle reminder that Long Island is purple'

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Tom Brune

WASHINGTON —&nbsp;Democrat Tom Suozzi will be sworn in on Feb. 28 as the representative from New York’s 3rd Congressional District in Nassau and Queens counties to finish the remainder of the 2023-24 term, the House speaker’s office said Thursday. 
Suozzi, 61, of Glen Cove, will return to Congress three days before the deadlines for a possible&nbsp;partial shutdown of the federal government unless Congress agrees on a spending bill to extend or replace the stopgap appropriations that expire on March 1 and March 8. 
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) delayed Suozzi’s swearing in until after a 12-day House recess ending on Feb. 27. 
Suozzi defeated Republican-backed Mazi Pilip 54% to 46% in a special election Tuesday to replace former Republican Rep. George Santos, who was expelled by the House on Dec. 1 following a scathing House Ethics Committee report and a 23-count federal criminal indictment. Santos has pleaded not guilty. 
Suozzi will reclaim the seat in the U.S. House that he held for three terms before stepping down to launch an unsuccessful campaign in the Democratic primary&nbsp;against Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022,&nbsp;the year that&nbsp;Santos won the seat over Democrat Robert Zimmerman. 
Once sworn in, Suozzi will trim the House Republican majority to six,&nbsp;meaning&nbsp;Johnson can lose only two votes from his caucus on any measure in a party-line vote with everyone voting. 
For the rest of the term, Suozzi will occupy Santos’ office in the Longworth House Office Building. He will need to run again in the November general election for a full&nbsp;two-year term. 
The House has three other vacancies that will not be filled for another two or three months. 
Special elections will be held on May 21 to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and June 11 to replace Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). Hochul set the special election to fill the seat of Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) on April 30.

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Tom Suozzi to be sworn back into Congress on Feb. 28

Tom Suozzi scheduled to be sworn into Congress

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Nassau Democrats improved their turnout operation, Republican voter participation declined&nbsp;and Queens&nbsp;voters&nbsp;turned out overwhelmingly for Democrat Tom Suozzi&nbsp;— all factors that helped Suozzi defeat GOP nominee Mazi Melesa Pilip in the 3rd Congressional District special election, experts said. 
Suozzi defeated Pilip, a second-term Nassau County legislator,&nbsp;54% to 46%&nbsp;to fill the balance of expelled former GOP Rep. George Santos’ term. 
In Nassau, where 80% of 3rd District voters live, 39% of all voters were registered Democrats, compared with 35% in the 2022 general election when Santos won. Thirty-five percent of the vote came from Republicans in the special election, compared with 37% in 2022. 
Unaffiliated voters in Nassau comprised 23% of the vote, down from 21% in 2022. 
Suozzi beat Pilip in the Queens portion&nbsp;of the district by 23%, or 5,710 votes.&nbsp;Party turnout data for Queens was not immediately available. 
Nassau Democrats credited their success to a strong absentee balloting operation and a major push during early voting that together gave them more than 10,000 votes&nbsp;before Election Day on Tuesday. 
Republicans&nbsp;pointed to several issues that may have hampered them, from an early morning snowstorm Tuesday to the Democrats’ national fundraising advantage. Suozzi's campaign outraised Pilip's by a margin of 2-to-1, and outside Democratic groups outspent Republican groups by a similar margin. 
“There was no indication of this coming,” said former Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), a vice chairman of the Nassau Republican Committee who helped&nbsp;select Pilip as the party's nominee. 
“Every issue in the race was geared to us, to Republicans,” King said, referring to issues such as the surge in migrants across the U.S. southern border.&nbsp;“Suozzi basically ran as a Republican.” 
Former Rep. Steve Israel, an&nbsp;Oyster Bay Democrat who represented the 3rd District from 2001 until 2017,&nbsp;said he believed&nbsp;Republicans had taken&nbsp;recent wins for granted, after capturing major countywide offices and local town supervisor seats over the past few years. 
“The Suozzi campaign had dominance in the air, television, radio, mail and vastly outspent the Republicans. The Republicans decided to cede the air because they were convinced they would win it on the ground with their legendary voter pull operation,” said Israel, a former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee&nbsp;who owns&nbsp;Theodore’s Books&nbsp;in Oyster Bay. 
“What they didn’t anticipate was 8 inches of snow on the ground, which impeded their turnout,”&nbsp;Israel said. 
The 3rd District covers Nassau County's North Shore, dips south into Levittown and Massapequa, and includes a portion of northeastern&nbsp;Queens. 
<h2>Early voting advantage</h2> 
Democrats&nbsp;cast&nbsp;11,000&nbsp;more votes than Republicans before Election Day during the nine-day period of early voting or through mail-in absentee ballots, elections board data in Nassau and Queens shows. 
In Nassau, 24,196 Democrats voted early, compared with 19,876 Republicans. In Queens, 5,389 Democrats voted early, compared with 2,029 Republicans. 
Democrats also had the advantage with mail-in ballots. Of absentee ballots returned in Nassau as of Election Day, 6,510 were from registered Democrats, 3,426 were from Republicans and 2,147&nbsp;were from voters with no party affiliation. 
Jay Jacobs, chairman of the state and Nassau Democratic Party, said he and party leaders had an aggressive “chase” operation to call&nbsp;voters who requested absentee ballots&nbsp;but hadn’t&nbsp;returned them. 
Jacobs said the party knew early on that, “we’ve got to bank a lot of votes, and that’s what we set out to do.” 
<h2>No red wave</h2> 
On Monday, Republican leaders rallied their troops at party headquarters in Franklin Square before their traditional&nbsp;election-eve barbecue. 
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Schuylerville), chairwoman of the Republicans’ House Conference, spoke, as did former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022. 
Pilip&nbsp;spoke last, and vowed to end Suozzi’s political career. 
“I promise you, tomorrow, Feb. 13, you are going to remember this day, because Mazi Pilip will knock you down,” she said as she finished her speech. 
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park) also projected confidence. 
“Long Island is the brightest shade of red it’s been in years,” D'Esposito said at the rally. On Tuesday, “There’s going to be a bright, bright red light shining from the 3rd Congressional District,” he said. 
Nassau GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo said he thought the snow hurt the party’s turnout operation. 
The party’s base of seniors&nbsp;often vote early in the day, when snow was falling hardest. The GOP&nbsp;offered rides to the polls to 100 voters who requested&nbsp;them, Cairo said. 
“The snow falls on Republicans and Democrats,” he said. He continued: “We didn’t make it up, the weather hurt us. I understand the snow affects both of us, but I think we were more adversely affected than the Democrats.” 
Cairo said he planned to review the returns, including the Democrats' absentee balloting advantage. “That's one of the things we have to look at and adjust our game plan accordingly,” he said. 
David Hopkins, a Boston College political science professor, said well-educated suburban voters have moved in greater numbers to the Democratic Party&nbsp;and may be more likely to vote in low turnout special elections. 
Also, Suozzi’s name recognition and frenetic schedule on the campaign trail may have played better than it would have in an election where other&nbsp;state and federal races were on the ballot, Hopkins said. 
Democratic Rep. Grace Meng, of Queens, campaigned for Suozzi, who also spent a significant amount of time in Queens. 
At a rally for Pilip in Whitestone last month, GOP New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino said of Suozzi: “Tom is walking around like he owns this place. I can’t turn around without seeing his face.” 
After the rally, Paladino&nbsp;said she took it as a sign that Suozzi was worried about his standing in the larger Long Island portion of the district. 
On that night, as Pilip was being feted by a friendly crowd, Suozzi was down the street, at a civic organization forum that Pilip had declined to attend. 
Fifty-three percent of registered voters in the Queens portion&nbsp;of the district are Democrats, compared with 35% in the Nassau portion. 
Correction:&nbsp;In the 3rd District special election, 39% of all voters were registered Democrats, compared with 35% in the 2022 general election. Thirty-five percent of voters were&nbsp;Republicans, compared with 37% in 2022.&nbsp;Unaffiliated voters comprised 23% of the vote, compared with 21% in 2022.&nbsp;An earlier version of this story incorrectly described what the percentages represented.

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Tom Suozzi buoyed by higher Democratic turnout, decline in GOP voting

Suozzi buoyed by higher Democratic turnout, decline in GOP participation

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Tom Suozzi&#39;s win in the 3rd Congressional District puts House Republicans in a tight spot. NewsdayTV&#39;s Shari&nbsp;Einhorn reports.&nbsp;

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Balance of power in play with Suozzi win

Glen Cove

Great Neck

'They can now only lose two votes, which makes it very precarious'

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Democrat Tom Suozzi defeated Republican-backed Mazi Melesa Pilip in the intensely watched special election to replace expelled Rep. George Santos in the 3rd Congressional District, surviving eight weeks of intense campaigning and a last-minute, turnout-disrupting snowstorm. 
“We addressed the issues, and we found a way to bind our divisions,” Suozzi told a cheering crowd at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury Tuesday night. 
“There are divisions in our country where people can't even talk to each other … all they do is yell and scream at each other,” Suozzi said. “The answer is to bring people of good will together to try and find that common ground.” 
With 100% of election districts reporting, <a href="https://projects.newsday.com/voters-guide/results/2024-3rd-congressional-district-special-election" target="_blank">Suozzi had about 54% of the vote to about 46% for Pilip</a>. 
Suozzi's win represented the first significant victory in a major race for Nassau Democrats in three years. 
“We out-machined the machine,” said Nassau and state Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs, referring&nbsp;to the turnout operation of the county GOP. 
In a concession speech to her supporters at the Lannin restaurant in East Meadow, Pilip said: “We are fighters. Yes, we lost, but it doesn't end here.” 
<h2>'We fell short'</h2> 
Nassau Republican chairman Joseph Cairo said Pilip had already called to congratulate Suozzi on his victory. 
“We fell short,&quot; Cairo said. “It was a very short campaign, very compact and Mazi did a great job.” 
Suozzi gave up his congressional seat in 2022 for an unsuccessful&nbsp;gubernatorial primary bid, and Santos won the seat by nearly 8 percentage points amid a Republican wave.&nbsp; 
Santos, a Republican, served only 11 months. The House expelled him on Dec. 1, after a blistering ethics report accused him of defrauding campaign donors for personal profit. Santos has pleaded not guilty of federal charges that he made thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges on credit cards belonging to some of his campaign donors. 
“Thank God,” Suozzi said as he began his victory speech,&nbsp;putting his hands in the air. “Let me just enjoy this for just one more minute.” 
He kept his cool as a protester holding a Palestinian flag chanted: “You support genocide.” 
Both Suozzi and Pilip, a second term Nassau County legislator, have&nbsp;expressed strong support for Israel in its war with Hamas militants. 
<h2>Ran as moderate</h2> 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Pilip,&nbsp;44, of Great Neck, is a registered Democrat who ran with GOP backing. The Ethiopian Israeli immigrant and Orthodox Jew centered her campaign on the influx of migrants at the U.S. southern border, attempting to lump Suozzi in with progressive Democrats and President Joe Biden. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">But Suozzi ran as a moderate Democrat and kept&nbsp;Biden at arm's length. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">“Despite all the attacks, despite all the lies&nbsp;…&nbsp;about Tom Suozzi being the 'godfather' of the migrant crisis, about 'sanctuary Suozzi,' despite the dirty tricks … we won,” Suozzi said. 
Suozzi's victory<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">&nbsp;gives&nbsp;House Republicans an even slimmer majority.&nbsp;On party-line votes, the GOP will now only be able to afford two defectors. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Those high stakes&nbsp;led to a heavy focus on national issues in the special election, particularly the migrant influx, and heavy outside spending. Democratic- and Republican-aligned super PACs had poured $16.5 million into the race through Friday, according to Federal Election Commission reports. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Ads attacking Pilip funded by the Democratic House Majority PAC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee accounted for the bulk of that spending. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">The candidates themselves raised a total of about $6 million through late January, with Suozzi outpacing Pilip by a 2-to-1 margin. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Suozzi appeared to have outperformed public opinion polls that predicted a very close race. Last week, a Newsday/Siena College poll had Suozzi leading Pilip 48% to 44%, within the survey's 4.2% margin of error, and a PIX11/Emerson College poll showed Suozzi up by 50% to 47%, within the survey's 3.5% margin of error. 
<h2><span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Border emerges as top issue</h2> 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Suozzi and Pilip plied different strategies on the campaign trail. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">With more than 30 years in local politics and government, Suozzi still sometimes resembled a newcomer. He was ubiquitous on the campaign trail and accepted numerous invitations for candidate forums that Pilip declined. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Pilip had&nbsp;far less name recognition but limited her appearances with Suozzi and hewed closely to GOP talking points as her party expressed confidence that they'd continue the success that has seen them win most offices in Nassau since 2021. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">They debated only once, at News 12 Long Island studios last week. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Suozzi argued Pilip lacked the experience and policy knowledge to serve the district effectively. Pilip pilloried Democrats and Suozzi on the border. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">At the start of the special election campaign, issues such as support for Israel&nbsp;and restoring the federal state and local tax deduction, known as SALT, were prominent. But in the final weeks, nearly all the focus moved to the&nbsp;border. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Suozzi in the final days flipped the script on Pilip, labeling her as an extremist for opposing a bipartisan U.S. Senate border bill that drew opposition from former GOP&nbsp;President Donald Trump and House Republicans. The measure would have allocated $118 billion to bolster border security and send wartime aid to Israel and Ukraine. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Pilip supported&nbsp;a House Republican bill, H.R. 2, that lacked Democratic support. The legislation would force asylum-seekers to stay in detention centers on the other side of the border. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">“This race was fought amidst a closely divided electorate, much like our whole country,” Suozzi said in his victory speech. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Late last night, the White House said Biden and first lady Jill Biden called Suozzi to congratulate him on his victory. 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">Trump, in a post last night on his social media platform &quot;Truth Social,” said &quot;Republicans just don’t learn … I&nbsp;have an almost 99% Endorsement Success Rate in Primaries, and a very good number in the General Elections, as well, but just watched this very foolish woman, Mazi Melesa Pilip, running in a race where she didn’t endorse me … &quot; 
<span data-atex-af="$ID/PoynterOSTextThreeL Roman" data-atex-cfill="Color/Black" data-atex-cstyle="TEXT" data-atex-currentstyle="TEXT" data-atex-fs="Normal" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-nf="1" data-atex-tagstart="1" data-atex-uat="{}">With Candice Ferrette,&nbsp;John Asbury and Laura&nbsp;Figueroa Hernandez

POMAIN240214

Tom Suozzi beats Mazi Melesa Pilip in 3rd Congressional District special election

Suozzi beats Pilip in 3rd Congressional District special election

poMAIN240214_photos

Democrat Suozzi beat Republican-backed Mazi Melesa Pilip in the 3rd Congressional District race to fill the House seat of expelled Rep. George Santos.&nbsp;NewsdayTV&#39;s Macy Egeland reports.&nbsp;

poMAIN240214_video

Fourth time's the Tom! Suozzi wins back House seat

Mineola

Herricks

'The answer is to bring people of good will together' 

Joseph Ostapiuk

<a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/elections/voting-3rd-district-pilip-suozzi-wvm6oz2g">As early voting winds</a><a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/elections/voting-3rd-district-pilip-suozzi-wvm6oz2g">&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/elections/voting-3rd-district-pilip-suozzi-wvm6oz2g">down</a> in the 3rd Congressional District special election, voters in parts of&nbsp;Nassau County and Queens cast ballots Saturday in the race to fill the seat left vacated by expelled Rep. George Santos. 
A <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/suozzi-pilip-3rd-district-poll-b7ptbttg">Newsday/Siena College poll</a> released Thursday found the two candidates vying for the seat — Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican-backed Mazi Melesa Pilip — locked in a tight race. The poll showed voters favored Pilip on the question of who would better tackle the migrant influx, while voters had greater confidence Suozzi would better address abortion issues. 
On the second-to-last day of early voting,&nbsp;15 balloting sites were open in&nbsp;Nassau County and Queens. On Sunday, early voters in Nassau can cast votes from 9 a.m. to&nbsp;6 p.m., and those in Queens can do so from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. 
&nbsp;Election Day is Tuesday. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Flo McGuigan, left, of Hicksville votes early at the Town of Oyster Bay Ice Skating Center in Bethpage.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/94250306-95b5-4366-a77b-e6fe221b3caf" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/94250306-95b5-4366-a77b-e6fe221b3caf', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/94250306-95b5-4366-a77b-e6fe221b3caf"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/94250306-95b5-4366-a77b-e6fe221b3caf/liVOTE240211_11.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Flo McGuigan, left, of Hicksville votes early at the Town of Oyster Bay Ice Skating Center in Bethpage. </a> 
There was a steady flow of voters filing in and out of the Port Washington Public Library Saturday morning, with some saying they wanted to cast their ballot before Tuesday, when forecasters predict possible snow. 
James Scheuerman, Nassau’s Democratic Board of Elections commissioner, said he was impressed by the voter turnout for early voting. 
He said 46,207 voters cast early ballots as of the close of polls Saturday. Of those votes, 19,667 were cast by registered Democrats, 15,910 were cast by Republicans and 8,909 by&nbsp;unaffiliated voters. Members of third parties cast&nbsp;substantially fewer votes with 531 Conservative Party members voting, 19 Green Party members casting ballots,&nbsp;and 36 Independence Party members voting&nbsp;although that party&nbsp;is no longer recognized. 
&quot;This was definitely a good turnout,&quot; he said. &quot;There was a lot advertising and it drew national attention.&quot; 
Nassau Republican Board of Elections Commissioner Joseph Kearney declined to comment. 
For supporters of Suozzi, his experience in government — and Pilip's perceived lack of time in government roles — <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/suozzi-pilip-poll-newsday-siena-pgcey3nt">helped move the needle</a>. 
“I would say that experience is a big part of it,” said Allan Borzuk, who voted Saturday morning in Port Washington. “That’s how you establish credibility.” 
Kevin and Stacey McDermott, of Port Washington, said Suozzi was a moderate who would be able to help bridge divides that have perpetuated between the Democratic and Republican parties. 
At the Town of Oyster Bay Skating Center in Bethpage late Saturday morning, some voters for Pilip decried Democratic border policies as a primary cause for voting Republican on the ballot. 
“I don’t like the liberal policies, I don’t like the open border,” said Tom Lombardi after he voted outside the Bethpage ice rink. 
John Bardenhagen, of Hicksville, said, “We have too many people coming and we don’t have room for them.” 
“Look what they’re doing to the city,” he said of Democrats. “It’s out of control.” 
Margaret Bunzel, of Hicksville, who didn’t disclose whom she voted for, said she wasn’t motivated by a particular issue in the race but wanted to cast her vote early for a simpler reason: “I heard about the weather on Tuesday,” she said. 
Gov. Kathy Hochul called for the special election to fill the term after Santos, a Republican, was forced from Congress on Dec. 1. A House ethics report accused him of defrauding campaign donors for personal profit. 
Santos also faces federal indictments related to his campaign fundraising and spending and left a litany of lies about his background that made international news.

LIVOTE240211

Pilip-Suozzi race to replace former Rep. George Santos: Early voting winds down, ends Sunday

Sunday is final day of early voting in Pilip-Suozzi race to replace Santos

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Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican-backed&nbsp;Mazi Melesa Pilip, the candidates in the special election in the 3rd Congressional District,&nbsp;are sparring over a bipartisan border deal in the U.S. Senate, with Suozzi supporting the compromise and Pilip rejecting it as ineffective. 
The influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border is a key issue in the Feb. 13 special election to fill the seat of expelled former Rep. George Santos. Republicans and Democrats&nbsp;are attacking each other over the issue in campaign commercials and during stump speeches. 
On Sunday, a small group of Senate negotiators unveiled a $118 billion proposal that aims to bolster&nbsp;security at the border and provide aid for Israel and Ukraine, as well as humanitarian relief for civilians in Ukraine and Gaza, both war&nbsp;zones. 
The bill, which is backed by Democratic President Joe Biden, would allocate&nbsp;$20 billion to crack down on illegal immigration, with funding for more Border Patrol officers and asylum officers, who review immigration petitions; expanded screenings for illegal and lethal drugs&nbsp;such as fentanyl; and added capacity at border detention centers. 
The measure would allow the president to close the border if the number of migrants exceeds 4,000 per day for more than a week. The law requires closure if the number exceeds 5,000 per day for a week, or 8,500 on a single day. 
Senate leaders in both parties support the bill, but a number of high-ranking congressional Republicans disapprove. They support a House bill, H.R. 2, that would require&nbsp;construction of a 900-mile border wall and force asylum-seekers to stay in detention centers or on the other side of the border. 
Biden has vowed to veto H.R. 2. Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, has called on Republicans to reject the Senate deal, which would deny&nbsp;Biden a policy win in a presidential election year. 
“The proposed Senate border deal is an absolute nonstarter for me because it simply puts into law the invasion currently happening at our southern border,” Pilip said in a statement on Sunday. Pilip also said senators should not have paired the border deal with the wartime aid package for Ukraine and Israel. 
“All of these pressing issues should be dealt with separately and swiftly,” Pilip said. 
During a news conference on Monday, Suozzi said Pilip was beholden to&nbsp;extreme&nbsp;views of Republicans such as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Majority Whip&nbsp;Tom Emmer (R-Minn.). 
“This is a pretty good indication of what this whole race has been about — that I want to have a bipartisan solution to the problems we face, and my opponent is taking these Republican talk points from extremists,” Suozzi said. 
Suozzi said Pilip's use of the word “invasion” was&nbsp;evidence of a “hard-right” and “extreme” turn Pilip has made in recent days. 
Suozzi, 61, of Glen Cove, is a former Nassau County executive who represented the 3rd District for three terms. Pilip, 44, of Great Neck, is in her third year as a Nassau County legislator. Early voting began Saturday&nbsp;and runs through Feb. 11. 
With Paul LaRocco

POBORDER240206

Mazi Melesa Pilip, Tom Suozzi trade attacks over Senate border bill

Pilip, Suozzi attack each other over Senate border bill

stearly240206

Paul LaRocco

New to the United States, Mazi Melesa Pilip traveled the country promoting the plight of Ethiopian Jews. 
At temples and colleges throughout the mid-2000s, she spoke of her dramatic airlift to Israel from the East African nation. Pilip was 12 during “Operation Solomon” in 1991, and in public appearances she’d recount the religious persecution in her impoverished rural village, her family’s liberation during a civil war and their jarring assimilation into modern Israeli society. 
One panel included an Israeli military pilot who flew in the mission and the American emissary, former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz of Minnesota, who helped negotiate it. 
To a 20-something Pilip, it was another speaking engagement. 
Today, she calls it epochal. Pilip couldn't quite believe it when Boschwitz&nbsp;called her&nbsp;in 2022, after reading that the Great Neck mother of seven had become a&nbsp;Nassau County legislator. 
Now, Pilip herself hopes to go to Congress. She&nbsp;is the Republican candidate against&nbsp;Democrat Tom Suozzi in the Feb. 13 special election in New York's 3rd Congressional District. 
“Time is amazing and how everything can connect,” Pilip, 44, told Newsday.&nbsp;“Who would think? The senator that was part of this amazing deal and that little girl that didn’t have running water inside the house, or a toilet, that she will come to Israel and then the United States and become a legislator and now be a candidate for Congress?” 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-onecms-id="contentid/12086447-c4bb-45a0-8a69-4b5a040513b5" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/12086447-c4bb-45a0-8a69-4b5a040513b5', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/12086447-c4bb-45a0-8a69-4b5a040513b5">STORYWIDGET: POPILIP240204_QUOTE1</a> 
The race is attracting intense national&nbsp;attention and heavy spending by outside political groups because it could&nbsp;help determine the balance of power in the divided U.S. House. 
And an unlikely confluence of events — Suozzi's decision not to seek reelection in the 3rd District for a long-shot, and unsuccessful, gubernatorial bid; the expulsion of Suozzi's&nbsp;successor, former GOP Rep. George Santos; and the Israel-Hamas war — quickened Pilip's rise to the nomination. 
Republicans&nbsp;call her&nbsp;a candidate for the moment. She’s an Orthodox Jew, Israeli military veteran and impassioned defender of Israel in a <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/mazi-pilip-tom-suozzi-thno5f03">district with a large&nbsp;Jewish population</a>. She’s an immigrant at a time the GOP has&nbsp;made&nbsp;the surge in migrants crossing the U.S. southern border its top campaign issue. 
In questioning Pilip's readiness for the House, Democrats cite her meager record during her <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/mazi-pilip-o6x07dvt">first term as a county&nbsp;legislator</a>, in which she was the lead sponsor of only a few bills;&nbsp;her campaign’s <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/pilip-suozzi-third-district-special-election-h1wntbui">rejection of most invitations for debates</a> with Suozzi;&nbsp;and her tendency to stick to broad Republican slogans and talking points. 
“I’m not a talker. I am a person of action,” Pilip told Newsday last month at&nbsp;Nassau GOP headquarters in Westbury. “I don’t promise if I cannot deliver. And if I promise, I will do everything to deliver.” 
Suozzi, 61, told Newsday: “I think she’s got a great resume, as far as her personal story. She doesn’t really have a position that she’s taking on a lot of national issues. And she’s not telling us.” 
<h2>From Ethiopia to Israel</h2> 
Pilip’s father was a farmer in Ethiopia. They had&nbsp;“a&nbsp;very simple home,” she recalled, without indoor plumbing or a stove. Meals were cooked outdoors over fire. 
The lack of amenities didn’t make Pilip’s family unusual, but its Jewish faith did. 
Practicing Judaism was something “you don’t talk about at all,” Pilip said. Ethiopian Jews were labeled “Falasha,” which in the Amharic language translates to wanderer or outsider. 
Israel opened an embassy in the capital of Addis Ababa in the late 1980s, and many Ethiopian Jews went there awaiting rescue. A civil war between the country's ruling regime and rebel forces brought mass starvation and the persecution of Jews,&nbsp;who accounted for a small fraction of the population. 
In 1991, Israel and the United States negotiated a cease-fire and conducted&nbsp;a covert&nbsp;mission to airlift roughly 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Evacuees were packed into seat-less jumbo jets, Pilip recalled. Children had numbered stickers affixed to their forehead for identification. 
“Even though that was very hard, we were singing,” Pilip recalled of the flight. 
But&nbsp;modern Israeli society was a culture shock. Like many refugees, Pilip was sent to government-run boarding school. Many kids didn’t know how to read or write at all, let alone in Hebrew. 
“I cried a lot” during that period, Pilip said. 
Her father’s health made him unable to resume farming&nbsp;in Israel, Pilip said. The government supported the family as Pilip finished school, took college prep courses, and enrolled as required in the Israel Defense Force. 
Between late 1997 and mid-1999, <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/pilip-suozzi-3rd-district-special-election-k103cueo">she served as a gunsmith in the paratroopers brigade</a>, securing weapons in Israel as male colleagues fought in Lebanon. Pilip was not a parachutist, and&nbsp;women were barred from combat roles until 2001. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-onecms-id="contentid/34aba7fc-bd25-4f50-9c7d-638046481692" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/34aba7fc-bd25-4f50-9c7d-638046481692', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/34aba7fc-bd25-4f50-9c7d-638046481692">STORYWIDGET: Mazi Melesa Pilip </a> 
<h2>'A testimony of&nbsp;her skills'</h2> 
The IDF, Pilip said, wanted her for officer school. But Pilip preferred college,&nbsp;enrolling&nbsp;in an occupational therapy program at Haifa University. The program shared a building with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's medical school. There she met Adalabert Pilip, a Ukraine-born American medical student. 
After they finished school, Adalbert Pilip returned to the United States for a&nbsp;residency at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. He and Mazi Pilip married in New York in 2005. 
Pilip, who had&nbsp;advocated&nbsp;for Ethiopian Jewish students&nbsp;at Haifa, conducted outreach for the nonprofit North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry&nbsp;in New York. She flew to states across the nation, sponsored by the nonprofit and a Jewish speakers bureau, to participate in&nbsp;panels and Jewish film festivals. 
On one panel, she sat with Boschwitz, a Republican who as President George H.W. Bush’s Ethiopian emissary had worked with Israel to execute Operation Solomon. 
Pilip's rise to local-elected office and, now, the&nbsp;House run is “a wonderful testimony of her skills and also the Democratic system here in the United States,” Boschwitz, 93, told Newsday from his winter home in Florida. 
Pilip&nbsp;became a U.S. citizen in 2009, after she got her master's degree in Israel.&nbsp;The family settled in Great Neck in 2012, and Pilip managed operations at her husband’s medical practice, New York Comprehensive Medical Care in Smithtown. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Mazi Melesa Pilip (R-Great Neck) is shown at her home in Greak Neck on April 19, 2022. " data-attr-credit="" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/5ec55134-45ee-4807-9810-92b2cf816407" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/5ec55134-45ee-4807-9810-92b2cf816407', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/5ec55134-45ee-4807-9810-92b2cf816407"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/5ec55134-45ee-4807-9810-92b2cf816407/poGOPWOMEN2204XX-00310311.jpg?w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Mazi Melesa Pilip (R-Great Neck) is shown at her home in Greak Neck on April 19, 2022. </a> 
Democrats have pointed to a&nbsp;lawsuit alleging the practice owes more than $500,000 in unpaid rent on a former facility. Pilip's campaign calls the case a private lease dispute between Pilip's husband and a landlord, and says Pilip herself has no involvement in the dispute.&nbsp; 
In the special election, Democrats also have aired&nbsp;ads suggesting Pilip would fall in line with the&nbsp;most conservative House Republicans in slashing entitlements and imposing a&nbsp;national ban&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/pilip-suozzi-immigration-abortion-special-election-dnzv5ywr">on abortion</a>,&nbsp;which Pilip has denied.&nbsp; 
“I don't think she's going to get pulled to the right,”&nbsp;Pedram Bral, a fellow Orthodox Jew and Great Neck Village mayor, told Newsday. 
A longtime registered Democrat, Pilip confirmed last week&nbsp;she would change her registration to Republican after the election. 
“I don’t think she’s someone who can easily be persuaded to do the things that other people ask,” said Bral, who gave Pilip her start in local government by naming her&nbsp;to the village architectural review board. 
<h2>Entering politics</h2> 
Pilip recalled how her son in 2020 asked for a Star of David necklace as he prepared for his bar mitzvah. In a period of increasing antisemitism, Pilip said she found herself worrying for his safety. 
“If I’m worried, how am I supposed to raise my kids here?” she recalled thinking. “I said, ‘I have to be more involved.’ ” 
In 2021, Bral suggested Pilip to Nassau Republican chairman Joseph Cairo, who was seeking more&nbsp;diverse&nbsp;candidates to make inroads in Democratic strongholds, including the county legislature's 10th District in Great Neck. 
“I just felt she was the one,” Cairo recalled in an interview. 
Pilip thought her political career was over before it started. 
Days after agreeing to run for legislature, the then-mother of five&nbsp;found out she was pregnant, due shortly before Election Day. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-onecms-id="contentid/f9486021-7990-4bbf-a46f-28e72931387d" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/f9486021-7990-4bbf-a46f-28e72931387d', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/f9486021-7990-4bbf-a46f-28e72931387d">STORYWIDGET: POPILIP240204_QUOTE2</a> 
“I said, ‘Maz, listen. You’ll have the baby, take maybe a day, two days off, you’ll go back on the campaign trail,' ” Cairo recalled. “She smiled and laughed.” 
Actually, she was having twins —&nbsp;a fact she&nbsp;withheld from Cairo. She returned to the campaign trail 10 days after the births&nbsp;of two girls and defeated&nbsp;four-term Democratic incumbent Ellen Birnbaum. 
“I’m a fighter,” Pilip said.&nbsp;“I don’t want nobody to do better than me.” 
During her first legislative term, Pilip&nbsp;co-sponsored bills to establish a bipartisan task force to combat antisemitism and to curb the theft of catalytic converters, but&nbsp;rarely spoke&nbsp;at meetings, transcripts show. 
Kevan Abrahams, the legislature’s former Democratic minority leader, told Newsday Pilip “seems like a very great person,” but he never saw signs of leadership in her. 
“Sometimes you have to be that squeaky wheel to get that attention,” said Abrahams, who left office last year and is backing Suozzi. “I just don't know if she's well equipped to be able to deal and navigate through the nuances of Washington. I just haven't seen her demonstrate the ability to be a vocal leader or somebody that can collaborate with her caucus and get things done.” 
<h2>Campaigning</h2> 
Since launching their candidacies in December, Pilip and Suozzi have kept frenetic schedules, bouncing between party rallies and religious and civic events across the 3rd District. On Friday, Pilip and Nassau Republicans hosted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) at a private fundraiser. 
But Pilip and Suozzi have had just one&nbsp;joint appearance, at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/tom-suozzi-mazi-melesa-pilip-omer-neutra-plainview-oxzwu0wp">a nonpolitical event</a> in support of Israeli hostages,&nbsp;with a single debate scheduled to air Thursday&nbsp;night on News 12 Long Island. 
Suozzi frequently knocks Pilip for avoiding public events&nbsp;that could put her in uncomfortable positions. But that happened to her anyway on Jan. 17, at a friendly Republican rally for her in Whitestone. 
During her speech, protesters with the Long Island Democratic Socialists of America shouted&nbsp;their support for Palestinians in Israel's war with Hamas militants. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Mazi Melesa Pilip, the Republican candidate in the special election for the 3rd Congressional District.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/b6e12c23-3374-4170-95e8-2bb1d292b93f" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/b6e12c23-3374-4170-95e8-2bb1d292b93f', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/b6e12c23-3374-4170-95e8-2bb1d292b93f"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/b6e12c23-3374-4170-95e8-2bb1d292b93f/poPILIP231215209807598590.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Mazi Melesa Pilip, the Republican candidate in the special election for the 3rd Congressional District. </a> 
At first, Pilip ignored them, as members of the GOP crowd chanted, “U.S.A., U. S. A!” 
Hamas and other militants who attacked Israel on Oct. 7 killed some 1,200 people, and took&nbsp;about 250 hostages.&nbsp;More than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's subsequent ground and air offensive, according to health officials in Hamas-run Gaza. 
Pilip has countered&nbsp;questions about Israel's military response by pointing to Hamas' kidnapping&nbsp;of Israeli civilians&nbsp;during its&nbsp;attack. And after a second&nbsp;interruption at the Whitestone rally, she spoke up.&nbsp; 
“I just want to make sure I’m very clear. I’m not against Muslim or Palestinian. I’m not. I respect human being,” she said. “But you know what? I’m against terrorist organizations!&nbsp;I’m also against terrorist supporters trying to disrupt our lives!” 
The crowd roared with approval and&nbsp;Pilip, her voice rising,&nbsp;said she was running for Congress&nbsp;“because I love my children. I’m doing that for your children. 
“I’m doing that to save our great country!” 
With Scott Eidler

POPILIP240204

Mazi Melesa Pilip: Unlikely series of events led to Congress race in 3rd District

Mazi Pilip: Unlikely series of events led to Congress race

poPILIP240204_photos

Republicans call Mazi Pilip the candidate for the moment; Democrats say she isn&#39;t ready for Washington. NewsdayTV&#39;s Macy Egeland and Newsday politics reporter Paul LaRocco report.

POPILIP240204_video

Mazi Melesa Pilip: Candidate for the moment or inexperienced neophyte?

A look at Mazi Pilip, GOP candidate for 3rd CD special election

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In the summer of 1991, Tom Suozzi was in a bind. He had volunteered to chair the City of Glen Cove's&nbsp;Democratic Party and needed a candidate to run for&nbsp;mayor. His pick had dropped out of the race. 
During&nbsp;the city’s Feast of St. Rocco celebration, Suozzi walked into a church to pray and asked the priest for spiritual advice. “You’ve got to find someone to take the fall,” the priest said. 
Suozzi&nbsp;decided to make the run himself, and that evening rushed to the post office to deliver a notarized document by the midnight deadline. 
Suozzi, then 29,&nbsp;lost the race to Republican incumbent Donald DeRiggi. But the frenetic campaign “hooked” him on politics, Suozzi told Newsday recently, and two years later&nbsp;he ran again for mayor and defeated John Maccarone, a Republican city councilman. 
Suozzi's political career in the more than three decades since has been marked by major highs and lows. He served two terms as Nassau County executive and six years&nbsp;representing the 3rd Congressional District — but also ran unsuccessful campaigns for New York governor against Eliot Spitzer and Kathy Hochul. 
Now, he's the Democratic candidate in the widely watched special election in&nbsp;New York’s 3rd Congressional District on Feb. 13. Early voting began Saturday. 
Suozzi faces Republican nominee Mazi Melesa Pilip, a Nassau County legislator from Great Neck, in the contest to fill the seat after the expulsion of former GOP Rep. George Santos. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Mazi Pilip, left and Thomas Suozzi, congressional candidates for the 3rd District of NY, at an event at the Plainview JCC for the return of Omer Neutra, who is a hostage of Hamas. Omer Neutra, was raised in Plainview. Plainview
January 28, 2024 " data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/5c1a7a5f-028c-402f-878f-f2b2d8a9da56" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/5c1a7a5f-028c-402f-878f-f2b2d8a9da56', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/5c1a7a5f-028c-402f-878f-f2b2d8a9da56"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/5c1a7a5f-028c-402f-878f-f2b2d8a9da56/poTHIRD240129_3120764222.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Mazi Pilip, left and Thomas Suozzi, congressional candidates for the 3rd District of NY, at an event at the Plainview JCC for the return of Omer Neutra, who is a hostage of Hamas. Omer Neutra, was raised in Plainview. Plainview January 28, 2024 </a> 
Suozzi said after his loss in 2022 to Hochul in the Democratic primary for governor that&nbsp;he was surprised to get calls from&nbsp;Democrats&nbsp;urging him to run for his former&nbsp;seat in the House. He had spent the primary lobbing attacks at Hochul, the state's top Democrat, and had placed third in that race. 
“This is the first time people are encouraging me to run for office,” Suozzi told Newsday at his office in Glen Cove. “Throughout most of my career, I was not encouraged to run for anything.” 
In stump speeches in the special election campaign, Suozzi paints himself as a moderate bent on engineering compromises on difficult issues. In the House he served as vice chairman of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of Democratic&nbsp;and Republican House members who&nbsp;bill themselves as bipartisan dealmakers. 
Across the 3rd District, which covers Nassau’s North Shore, dips south to communities such as Levittown and Massapequa and includes parts of northwestern Queens, Suozzi campaign signs with his slogan&nbsp;“Let’s Fix This!” and reading, “Tom Suozzi Stands With Israel,” dot major roadways. 
He talks about crises he hopes to help solve with Republicans: climate change, the influx of migrants at the southern border&nbsp;and depression among teenagers addicted to social media. 
“People,&nbsp;I believe,&nbsp;are hungering for public officials to actually hear what they’re saying,” Suozzi said. “They want us to fix the problems. They don’t want us all fighting with each other and saying you’re no good, and you’re no good, and attack, attack, attack.” 
Republicans portray Suozzi as a member of the old guard who’s had his day. 
In a speech to Nassau Republicans last month&nbsp;at The Lannin restaurant in East Meadow, Pilip said:&nbsp;“Suozzi [is] claiming he's going to go back to fix things. He has been there for six years. He broke everything. For Suozzi, [it’s] another job.”&nbsp; 
Suozzi was born in Glen Cove on Aug.&nbsp;31, 1962, the youngest of five siblings. 
His parents, Marguerite Holmes Suozzi&nbsp;and Joseph A. Suozzi, raised Tom, his sister and three other brothers in a home on Tulane Road. 
His mother&nbsp;worked as an operating room nurse at Glen Cove Community Hospital, where Suozzi was born.&nbsp;She&nbsp;founded the Morgan Park Summer Music Festival&nbsp;in Glen Cove and served as its chairwoman for more than 50 years. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-onecms-id="contentid/02b4a0bb-ef18-4916-8fac-3ae12efdbfeb" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/02b4a0bb-ef18-4916-8fac-3ae12efdbfeb', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/02b4a0bb-ef18-4916-8fac-3ae12efdbfeb">STORYWIDGET: Tom Suozzi </a> 
His father immigrated to the United States in 1925 from Ruvo del Monte, a village in southern Italy. 
Joseph Suozzi served in the U.S. Army in World War II as a navigator on a B-24, completing&nbsp;35&nbsp;missions and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. 
After the war, he&nbsp;graduated from Harvard Law School on the GI Bill. But Tom Suozzi remembers&nbsp;his father recalling widespread prejudice against Italian Americans, and how&nbsp;no law firm would hire him. 
At 28, Joseph Suozzi became a&nbsp;City Court judge in&nbsp;Glen Cove, and later was elected&nbsp;mayor and as a state Supreme Court justice. 
Tom Suozzi and Helene Wrotniak were engaged at a gazebo on&nbsp;the Morgan Park waterfront, and were married in 1993. They&nbsp;have three children — Michael, Joseph and Caroline. 
<h2>Political and legislative record</h2> 
As he campaigns in the 3rd District, Suozzi refers frequently to his long political career. 
As Glen Cove mayor, he oversaw the revitalization of 214 acres of waterfront property around Hempstead Harbor, helping secure&nbsp;federal and state grants to clean up hazardous waste sites. 
Suozzi points to closure of the city's incinerator as one of his biggest achievements. He arranged for a garbage carter to move into the incinerator building, collect the waste for $45-per-ton less than the prior carter&nbsp;and ship it elsewhere. The deal saved&nbsp;the city $900,000 annually, he said. 
By&nbsp;1995, the weight of the job had taken a significant&nbsp;toll on Suozzi's health. 
On a Caribbean cruise with his family, he felt excruciating back pain, and&nbsp;ended up taking an air ambulance to a hospital in Miami for&nbsp;emergency surgery. 
“I ended up being paralyzed from the waist down because I was working so hard — on being the mayor, raise&nbsp;taxes, fighting with everybody, building new buildings,” Suozzi recalled 
“I still walk with a limp,”&nbsp;he&nbsp;said. 
In 2001, Suozzi&nbsp;ran for Nassau County executive, defeating then-state Assemb. Thomas DiNapoli in the Democratic primary, and Republican financier Bruce Bent in the general election. 
In the primary, Suozzi and his campaign chairman, Jay Jacobs, now the Nassau and state Democratic Party leader, portrayed Suozzi as an&nbsp;outsider and DiNapoli as part of the party establishment.&nbsp;DiNapoli had chaired the Nassau County Democratic Committee before resigning to run for county executive. 
DiNapoli, the New York State comptroller, is backing Suozzi’s bid in the 3rd District, although he supported Hochul in the 2022 gubernatorial primary. 
In an interview, DiNapoli called Suozzi a “relentless campaigner.” 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Tom Suozzi, running in a Feb. 13 special election for New York's 3rd Congressional District, speaks to the Lakeville Estates Civic Association of New Hyde Park during a town hall meeting, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024." data-attr-credit="Newsday" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/788626f6-d5db-4f9a-826b-e9e95aaf57d4" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/788626f6-d5db-4f9a-826b-e9e95aaf57d4', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/788626f6-d5db-4f9a-826b-e9e95aaf57d4"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/788626f6-d5db-4f9a-826b-e9e95aaf57d4/3V7A86891054618115.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Tom Suozzi, running in a Feb. 13 special election for New York's 3rd Congressional District, speaks to the Lakeville Estates Civic Association of New Hyde Park during a town hall meeting, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024.</a> 
But DiNapoli said that during the county executive primary, he had to “bristle” at Suozzi's portrayal of&nbsp;himself as an&nbsp;outsider. 
“It’s hard to argue when you’re born into political royalty in&nbsp;Glen Cove,” DiNapoli said recently. “In the end, he actually was more establishment than me, although he was able to project that he wasn’t.” 
Some argue Suozzi&nbsp;has run for office too many times. 
“You can be around too long and you can look like you're always looking at the next office,” said former Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford),&nbsp;who retired in 2020 after 28 years in the House. 
Suozzi also tries too hard to please, King said. 
“He tries too much to smooth the difference to keep people happy,” King said. “He's always trying to show there’s a dispute and he can broker the difference.” 
Suozzi was elected Nassau County executive as the county struggled with a severe budget crisis. Suozzi's first budget raised the county portion of the property tax&nbsp;by 19.4% in 2003&nbsp;and cut the total county workforce by 15% by&nbsp;reducing funding for about&nbsp;1,400 jobs. 
In his second reelection campaign in 2009, Suozzi ran on his record of improving county&nbsp;finances. Challenger Ed Mangano,&nbsp;a GOP county legislator, bashed Suozzi for tax increases that stemmed from the first countywide assessment in a half-century, and a&nbsp;2.5% tax on heating fuel. Suozzi lost by 386 votes. 
In 2013, Mangano defeated Suozzi in&nbsp;a rematch. A federal&nbsp;jury convicted Mangano of corruption charges in 2019. 
Suozzi served in the House from 2017 to 2022, declining to seek reelection in order to&nbsp;challenge Hochul in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. 
In 2021, the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Suozzi’s alleged failure to properly report approximately 300 financial transactions. According to the federal STOCK Act, members of Congress must report stock trades within 45 days of the transaction. 
Suozzi said the errors stemmed from a misunderstanding about what type of trades had to be reported immediately. The committee eventually cleared Suozzi and two other members of Congress, Republicans Pat Fallon and Chris Jacob, for such stock transactions. 
<h2>On the campaign trail</h2> 
Suozzi speaks to audiences about his concerns about divisions in the United States, wondering aloud&nbsp;why people can’t compromise. He throws his hands in the air frequently&nbsp;to express his dismay. 
Suozzi rips&nbsp;Democrats and Republicans for failing to reach a bipartisan deal to secure the U.S. southern border. 
“Make a deal! The people are sick of this,” he told a crowd at the Mid-Island Y JCC last month. 
During the forum, Plainview resident Seth Meyer, 39, told Suozzi he felt uncomfortable voting for a Democrat because many in the party's progressive wing are opposed to&nbsp;Israel and its war effort against Hamas. 
“As an American,&nbsp;[a]&nbsp;Long Island Jew, I have a lot of trouble reconciling the left side of the party,” Meyer said.&nbsp;“When I hear Democrats, I hear ‘Squad,’ ” Meyers said, referring to&nbsp;four female progressive House members of color. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Former Congressman Tom Suozzi, holding his first press conference since being named the nominee for the special election to fill the remainder of George Santos term in New Yorks 3rd Congressional District, December 9, 2023 in Levittown, NY." data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/407e7302-eef5-4e86-bcb7-7d9a6a77c478" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/407e7302-eef5-4e86-bcb7-7d9a6a77c478', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/407e7302-eef5-4e86-bcb7-7d9a6a77c478"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/407e7302-eef5-4e86-bcb7-7d9a6a77c478/poSUOZZI231223b01248.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Former Congressman Tom Suozzi, holding his first press conference since being named the nominee for the special election to fill the remainder of George Santos term in New Yorks 3rd Congressional District, December 9, 2023 in Levittown, NY.</a> 
Meyers cited a remark Suozzi made on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show in 2018: “Today, I am an honorary member of the Squad,” Suozzi said. 
Suozzi called his comment a tongue-in-cheek&nbsp;response to a remark&nbsp;then-Republican President Donald Trump had made about&nbsp;“the Squad”&nbsp;on Twitter, now X. Referring to the congresswomen, Trump said:&nbsp;“Go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.” 
“That's what they used to say to my father,” Suozzi said at the JCC forum.&nbsp; 
With Paul LaRocco

POSUOZZI240204

Tom Suozzi tries to reclaim House seat after ups and downs of long political career

Tom Suozzi: Long political career, with major highs and lows

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Tom Suozzi&#39;s political career has been marked by major highs and lows. NewsdayTV&#39;s Macy Egeland and Newsday Nassau County politics reporter Scott Eidler report.

POSUOZZI240204_video

Tom Suozzi: Long political career marked by major highs and lows

A look at Tom Suozzi, Democratic candidate for 3rd CD special election

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The first of nine days of <a href="https://Cops: Man scammed elderly Queens man arrested in East Islip after allegedly scammed a pair of elderly Suffolk County residents out of a combined $78,000, police say (">early voting</a> in the special election to fill&nbsp;the unexpired term of&nbsp;expelled Rep. George Santos began Saturday. 
Voters cast ballots in&nbsp;the 3rd Congressional District race featuring Republican-backed Mazi Melesa Pilip, of Great Neck, a&nbsp;two-term&nbsp;Nassau County legislator, and Democrat Tom Suozzi, of Glen Cove, the former congressman who previously held the 3rd District seat. 
Eleven&nbsp;voting sites across Nassau County were open Saturday from&nbsp;9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and four sites in&nbsp;Queens were open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The early voting period runs through&nbsp;Feb. 11.&nbsp; 
The polling site at Town of Oyster Bay Town Hall South&nbsp;in Massapequa was busy around noon. Two would-be voters who went inside told Newsday they planned to come back later to avoid a long line, with other voters saying they waited between 15 and 20 minutes to vote.&nbsp; 
The circumstances that led to the special election — the expulsion of Santos — was a motivating factor for Gloria Arzu, of Westbury. She said the responsiveness of Suozzi in the community was among the reasons she voted for him. 
Albert Diaz, 75, said he does not vote along party lines and casts a ballot “for someone who can do something for me.&quot; The Massapequa resident, however, said he has grown frustrated with the Democratic Party, saying, “They need to leave.” 
James Scheuerman, Nassau’s Democratic&nbsp;Board of Elections commissioner, said in an interview Saturday night there were a total of 9,104 voters across 11 sites on the first day of early voting. 
Of those voters, 48% — 4,327&nbsp;— were registered Democrats. There were 2,837 Republican voters and 1,627 unaffiliated voters, he said. 
Scheuerman said there were no major issues reported at polling places aside from an “occasional machine jam.” 
Voters at several sites reported long lines, but Scheuerman said most were “minimal.” He said he waited in line for 12 minutes in Plainview before making his way to the ballot box. 
“It was a little cold but the line was steadily moving,” he said “And I think it just goes to show the interest in this race, in a special election that we’re seeing this type of turnout on a cold Saturday in February.” 
Gov. Kathy Hochul called for the special election to fill the term after Santos, a Republican, was forced from Congress on Dec. 1. A House ethics report accused him of defrauding campaign donors for personal profit. Santos also faces federal indictments related to his campaign fundraising and spending and left a litany of lies about his background that made international news. 
At the Great Neck House&nbsp;community center, a steady stream of voters showed up to cast ballots. 
Tana Williams, 84, of Manhasset, says she&nbsp;is typically an&nbsp;early voter and that&nbsp;civic duty drove her to the polls for the special election. 
“I always just vote,” she said. 
Crime was a concern for John Fu, 50, a self-proclaimed Republican from Great Neck. 
“I think, right now, the Democrats go too extreme,” Fu said. “So many criminals on the street.” 
Marjorie Lockwood, 78, of&nbsp;Great Neck, said she found issues with both candidates, but the topic of abortion helped sway her vote to Suozzi. 
“I think it was the abortion thing on her [Pilip's] side,” said Lockwood. She might have been a swing voter, “but then I decided, 'No, she's not for me.'&nbsp;”

Elections

LIVOTE240204

Early voting in special election between Mazi Melesa Pilip, Tom Suozzi begins

Early voting begins in 3rd Congressional District special election

Residents turned out in the 3rd Congressional District as early voting began Saturday.&nbsp;NewsdayTV&#39;s Drew Scott reports.

LIVOTE240204_video

Early voting begins in Pilip-Suozzi special election

Nassau

Early voting gets underway in Pilip-Suozzi special election

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The candidates in New York’s 3rd Congressional District special election have raised more than&nbsp;$6 million in two months, with Democrat Tom Suozzi outpacing Republican-backed Mazi Melesa Pilip by a 3-to-1 margin. 
Reports filed late Thursday by Suozzi, the&nbsp;former 3rd District congressman, and Pilip, a Nassau County legislator, provides the only full overview of their campaign finances before the Feb. 13 opening of polls. Early voting starts Saturday&nbsp;. 
Suozzi raised $4.5 million through Jan.&nbsp;24, according to the report filed by his campaign to the Federal Election Commission disclosures. 
Most of that came after the 3rd District seat opened after the Dec. 1 expulsion of former GOP Rep. George Santos after release of a report by&nbsp;the House Ethics Committee accusing him of defrauding campaign donors for his personal profit. 
Suozzi, who represented the 3rd District from 2017 to 2022, had&nbsp;taken in an additional $268,000 through Tuesday, according to filings that must be updated within 24 or 48 hours of receipt of contributions. 
Pilip reported raising $1.3 million through&nbsp;Jan. 24, according to the FEC reports. 
Including contributions that have come in since Jan. 24, the two candidates have raised nearly $6.3 million in barely eight&nbsp;weeks, reflecting the race's expected impact on&nbsp;the balance of power in the House. Republicans control the House with one of the slimmest margins in recent history. 
“The money pouring in reflects a nationalized election,”&nbsp;Raymond La Raja, a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts,&nbsp;Amherst, told Newsday in an email. “This seat is incredibly important to both parties in a Congress where the Republican majority is so thin.” 
Suozzi, 61, of Glen Cove, also spent significantly more than Pilip through Jan. 24, the FEC reports show. His committee reported more than $2.3 million in expenses, compared with about $714,000 for Pilip, a 44-year-old Great Neck resident. 
As of Jan. 24, Suozzi’s campaign had $2.2 million on hand. Pilip’s had $629,000. 
The money in the Suozzi and Pilip war chests is only a fraction of what has poured into the race. 
Democratic and Republican Super PACs had spent a total of $8.7 million through Thursday, according to FEC independent expenditure reports that also must be filed within 24 or 48 hours. 
The vast majority of that outside cash has come&nbsp;from Democratic-aligned groups for TV ads attacking Pilip. 
Republican groups, however, have stepped up their ad buys in recent weeks. 
Both sides are attempting to paint the opposing candidates as members of the “extreme” wings of their parties on hot-button issues such as abortion and immigration, although Pilip and Suozzi themselves tend to take more moderate positions. 
Pilip spokesman Brian Devine said&nbsp;in a statement Friday that “no amount of money raised by Tom Suozzi and his extremist supporters can erase his record of failing to secure the border, massive tax hikes and supporting Joe Biden’s agenda 100 percent of the time.” 
Kim Devlin, a senior adviser to Suozzi's campaign, said: “Mazi Pilip is unvetted, untested, unprepared. Her campaign is fully run by Washington Republican bosses.” 
Pilip’s leading contributors were the Republican Jewish Coalition PAC, at $43,275, and the bipartisan pro-Israel NORPAC, at $40,422. 
More than a dozen individuals contributed at least $6,600 to her campaign. They include former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, a lobbyist and a top Nassau Republican; Robert McBride, who worked with D’Amato and runs his own consulting firm; and several couples who together gave more than $13,000, notably California real estate developer Allen Alevy and his wife, Deanna, who run a foundation supporting Jewish families. 
Race car legend Mario Andretti also gave Pilip's campaign $495, records show. 
Large Suozzi&nbsp;donors include&nbsp;political action committees representing various trades&nbsp;and labor unions.&nbsp;They include the&nbsp;American Federation of Teachers;&nbsp;the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education;&nbsp;the&nbsp;National Air Traffic Controllers Association; and the&nbsp;National Association of Letter Carriers. 
NORPAC, which backs pro-Israel members of Congress, gave Suozzi $20,515. 
Former New York Mets&nbsp;owner Fred Wilpon, of Locust Valley, contributed&nbsp;$5,000. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave $6,000 from her campaign fund. Actor Jon&nbsp;Cryer, of the “Two and a Half Men” sitcom&nbsp;gave $5,000 to the Suozzi campaign. 
LaRaja, also co-director of the UMass Poll, said the&nbsp;Santos factor is&nbsp;likely bringing the election&nbsp;more attention and funds. 
“Not only is it special in the sense that it takes place off cycle when there are no other contests going on, it is a chance for the people of the 3rd District to put someone in that seat who doesn't embarrass them,” he said.

PODISCLOSE240203

Tom Suozzi, Mazi Pilip raise $6 million for special election in just 8 weeks

Suozzi, Pilip fill campaign coffers with $6M

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Michael Gormley

The nine-day early-voting period begins Saturday in the special election to fill the unexpired term of expelled Rep. George Santos in a contest that could help determine the path of Congress. 
Early voting&nbsp;for the 3rd Congressional District seat, which includes parts of Nassau and Queens counties,&nbsp;runs through Feb. 11 at select polling sites. Polls will be open for traditional voting on Feb. 13. 
Republican-backed Mazi Melesa Pilip, of Great Neck, a two-term Nassau legislator,&nbsp;faces Democrat Tom Suozzi, of Glen Cove, the former congressman who previously held the 3rd District seat. Each was chosen by party leaders. 
Gov. Kathy Hochul called for the special election to fill Santos’ term after Santos, a Republican, was forced from Congress on Dec. 1. A House ethics report accused him of defrauding campaign donors for personal profit. Santos also faces federal indictments related to his campaign fundraising and spending and left a litany of lies about his background that made international news. 
The term runs until the end of this year. In November, voters will go to the polls again to determine who will fill a full&nbsp;two-year term for the job, which&nbsp;pays $174,000 a year. 
Here are the basics about voting in the special election. 
<h2>Who can vote?</h2> 
All registered voters in the district are eligible to vote. 
Voters can use a state Board of Elections online lookup portal (<a href="https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/">voterlookup.elections.ny.gov</a>) to determine if they are registered, to identify their election districts, polling place location and party affiliation, if any. 
Nassau County residents may also call 516-571-VOTE (8683) to determine if they are eligible to vote. 
<h2>Where is the district?</h2> 
The district covers the North Shore of Nassau County and parts of southeastern Nassau,&nbsp;including Oyster Bay Cove, Levittown, Glen Cove, Port Washington, Great Neck, Massapequa Park and Farmingdale. The district also includes the eastern part of Queens, including Queens Village. 
<h2>When can Nassau County voters cast ballots during early voting?</h2> 
<ul> 
 <li>Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Monday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Tuesday, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Feb. 8, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Feb. 9, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Feb. 10, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Feb. 11, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.</li> 
</ul> 
<h2>When can Queens voters cast ballots in person during the early voting?</h2> 
<ul> 
 <li>Saturday through Monday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Feb. 8, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Feb. 9, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Feb. 10, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.</li> 
 <li>Feb. 11, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.</li> 
</ul> 
<h2>Where can Nassau County voters cast ballots?</h2> 
All voters can use a state Board of Elections online lookup portal (<a href="https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/">voterlookup.elections.ny.gov</a>) to determine their voting locations. 
In Nassau County, early voting polling sites are the Oyster Bay Ice Rink in Bethpage,&nbsp;Glen Cove City Hall, Great Neck House in Great Neck, Hicksville Levittown Hall in Hicksville,&nbsp;Massapequa Town Hall,&nbsp;the Nassau County Board of Elections,&nbsp;the Plainview Mid-Island Y JCC in Plainview,&nbsp;the Port Washington Public Library,&nbsp;Gayle Community Center in Roslyn Heights, the Williston Park American Legion&nbsp;and&nbsp;the Yes We Can Community Center in Westbury. 
<h2>Where can Queens voters cast ballots?</h2> 
In Queens,&nbsp;voters may vote early at the Creedmoor Hospital at 79-25 Winchester Blvd., at Korean Community Services at 203-05 32nd Ave., Queensborough Community College at 222-05 56th Ave.,&nbsp;and at St. Luke Roman Catholic Church, 16-34 Clintonville St. 
Queens voters also can find their closest polling places online at the <a href="https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc/">findmypollsite.vote.nyc</a>&nbsp;portal of the New York City Board of Elections. 
<h2>What is the party enrollment of the district?</h2> 
The district had 224,741 enrolled Democrats, 161,624 enrolled Republicans,&nbsp;5,348 enrolled Conservatives and&nbsp;161,057 who are not enrolled in a political party, according the November enrollment statistics of the state Board of Elections. 
<h2>Who can vote early by mail?</h2> 
Any registered voter may apply for an early mail-in ballot under a 2023 law. No reason is needed for choosing to vote by mail instead of in person. 
Voters may also vote using the more traditional absentee ballot, in which voters provide a reason for why they can’t vote in person, such as being away from their district on voting days or illness. 
<h2>How do you vote early by mail?</h2> 
Early-voting mail applications are available through the state portal, in person at the local county board of elections, or by downloading the application from the state&nbsp; &nbsp;Board of Elections website (<a href="https://elections.ny.gov/">elections.ny.gov</a>). 
Applications for early voting by mail and applications for absentee ballots by mail, email, online, portal or fax must be received by the local boards of election&nbsp;no later than Saturday.&nbsp; 
The last day to apply in person at a board of elections is Feb. 12. 
&nbsp; Anyone who receives an absentee ballot application isn’t eligible to vote at polling sites during early voting or on Feb. 13, the traditional Election Day. 
Votes by mail must be postmarked or delivered by hand to the board of elections no later than Feb. 13 and received by the local board of elections no longer than seven days after the election. Voters also may&nbsp;deliver their mail-in ballot during early voting to one of the select polling places or at their traditional&nbsp;polling site before 9 p.m. on Feb. 13. 
The last day for a board of elections to receive a ballot by mail is Feb. 20, as long as the ballot is postmarked no later than Feb. 13. 
Editor's note -- An early version of this story omitted the Gayle Community Center in Roslyn Heights from the Nassau polling site list.

STEARLY240203

Early voting begins Saturday in 3rd Congressional District special election

Here's what to know as early voting begins in 3rd Congressional District election

LIVOTE231029_photos

Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican candidate Mazi Melesa Pilip&nbsp;took a break Sunday from the rancor that has marked the special election for New York's 3rd Congressional District, standing side by side to call for release of the Israeli hostages. 
After days of attacking each other on the trail, both candidates attended a rally in Plainview for Omer Neutra, raised&nbsp;in the hamlet and a soldier in the Israel&nbsp;Defense Forces who was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 when the militants launched an&nbsp;attack on Israel. 
Suozzi and Pilip stood next to each other at the Mid-Island Y Jewish Community Center alongside Neutra's parents, Ronen and Orna Neutra. Omer Neutra is one of six living American hostages, among 136 in total still alive and held by Hamas. 
Suozzi, 61, the former 3rd District congressman from Glen Cove, and Pilip, 44, a Nassau County legislator from Great Neck, are competing in the Feb. 13&nbsp;special election to fill the vacancy created by&nbsp;expelled Rep. George Santos.&nbsp;They also are vying for votes from one of the most heavily concentrated Jewish populations in the United States. 
Both conveyed their shared heartbreak for the Neutra family. Pilip spoke first. 
“Since Oct. 7 I am not the same Mazi, I changed a lot. Oct. 7 changed me forever,” she said. “We cannot be silent, we have to send a clear message, a strong message. Omer's supposed to be home with ‘imma’ and ‘abba,’ ” she said, speaking the Hebrew words for mother and father. 
When it came time for Suozzi to speak, he asked Pilip to stand beside him. He then said: “It's very appropriate that this is one of the few times that we've been together, to stand together.” 
He added: “It means so much that Legislator Pilip and I are here together today to show that we are united in our feeling for the families.” 
The October attack on Israel by Hamas militants killed&nbsp;roughly 1,200 people with about 250 hostages taken to Gaza.&nbsp;In response,&nbsp;Israel declared war on Hamas, killing more than&nbsp;26,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. 
Pilip, an&nbsp;Orthodox Jew,&nbsp;escaped her native Ethiopia as part of a covert rescue mission in 1991, when more than 14,000&nbsp;persecuted Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel.&nbsp;She later served as a gunsmith in the IDF's paratrooper brigade before immigrating to the United States. 
Suozzi, who is Roman Catholic, flew to Israel in December to meet with the families of kidnapped Israelis. He has campaigned on a pro-Israel platform.&nbsp; 
Afterward Sunday, Pilip told Newsday it was&nbsp;“very important” that she and&nbsp;Suozzi stood together at the podium. 
“It's a bipartisan mission here,” she said. “It is not Suozzi or Mazi, it is about Omer. It is about Orna and Ronen.” 
She and Suozzi wore&nbsp;Israeli military tags, chanted “bring them home,” and applauded each other&nbsp;in front of&nbsp;a large “Bring them Home Now!” sign showing the faces of the 136 hostages. 
After the remarks, a group walked from the JCC to the Country Pointe parking lot, as part of a&nbsp;“Walk/Run For Their Lives” to keep the focus on the hostages' return.&nbsp; 
The 3rd District includes parts of Queens and Nassau's North Shore, and dips south into Massapequa and Levittown. 
The crowd included some undecided voters. 
Robin Kaufman, of Plainview, said that while she was impressed by Pilip's back story, she remained inclined to support Suozzi. 
“I know where he stands, I know what he's done,” said Kaufman, a Democrat who has lived in Plainview for more than 40 years. “I would like to vote for Mazi,” she said, noting she is a woman and is Israeli.&nbsp;“But I think she has skirted the issues.” 
Holocaust survivor Eric Lipetz, 88, attended the event along with his wife, son&nbsp;and grandson.&nbsp;He and other family members&nbsp;escaped the Nazis in Belgium. 
“Everybody was together on this,” he said of the Sunday rally. “It&nbsp;shows how great our democracy really is.” 
His son, Ilan Lipetz, 54, of Old Bethpage, a registered Republican,&nbsp;said he planned to vote for Pilip. 
“Mazi is most likely better for Israel, and that's where my allegiance stands,” Ilan Lipetz said.

POTHIRD240129

Rivals Suozzi, Pilip rally together for release of Israeli hostages

Rivals Suozzi and Pilip rally together for release of Israeli hostages

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Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican candidate Mazi Melesa Pilip appeared together&nbsp;on Sunday to call&nbsp;for the release of the Israeli hostages.

POTHIRD240129_video

Pilip, Suozzi call for release of Israeli hostages

Plainview

'We need to stand together to bring them home'

1C0A0505_1.mp4.17_21_03_28.Still002.jpg

Laura Figueroa Hernandez

WASHINGTON — As Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican nominee Mazi Melesa Pilip <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/george-santos-replacement-tom-suozzi-mazi-melesa-pilip-3rd-district-election-nftl8jot">court voters in the special election </a>in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, they're facing questions&nbsp;—&nbsp;and criticism&nbsp;—&nbsp;about their stances on two major national issues: immigration and abortion access. 
Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive who also served three terms representing the 3rd District, is the target of TV ads and mailers from national Republican-aligned groups casting him as soft on immigration enforcement. Suozzi is pushing back with commercials touting his House votes in 2018 in favor of increased funding for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), which enforces immigration laws. 
Pilip, a second-term Nassau County legislator from Great Neck, is pushing back against ads from Democrat-aligned groups that are seeking to tie her to hard-line House conservatives who back a national abortion ban. Pilip, who describes herself as religious and “pro-life,”&nbsp;says she will not support a national ban if elected. 
Suozzi's and Pilip's effort to define their stances on abortion and immigration in the Feb. 13 election come as&nbsp;Democrats take aim at former President Donald Trump for appointing conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who voted to overturn&nbsp;federal abortion protections, and as Republicans blame Democratic President Joe Biden for the influx of migrants at the U.S. southern border. 
“Most times these special elections might turn more on local issues, but the two winning national issues are in competition” with each other in the special election campaign, Christopher Malone, a political science professor at Farmingdale State College, told Newsday. 
“On the one side, you have immigration, and it seems to have been a winning issue for Republicans on Long Island over the last three [election] cycles ... .,” Malone said. 
Also, he said, “Abortion has coursed through every special election across the country … So, even though it's not one of the top issues in terms of the polls, don't underestimate the effect that it has, which is why you see Democrats pushing it because they know it's been a winning issue for them.” 
<h2>Immigration</h2> 
New York City’s migrant crisis has emerged as a key&nbsp;issue in the 3rd District race, with&nbsp;polls showing&nbsp;the problems at the southern border&nbsp;a top concern of&nbsp;voters. 
Suozzi launched two television ads over the past week responding to commercials sponsored by national&nbsp;Republican groups questioning his support for ICE. 
A television ad sponsored by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a GOP-led political action committee,&nbsp;features a clip of comments by Suozzi in&nbsp;a debate during his unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2022. Suozzi recounted in the debate how as “county executive of Nassau County I kicked ICE out of Nassau County.” 
The Congressional Leadership Fund recently pledged more than $2 million for ads to boost Pilip’s candidacy. 
Suozzi, who served two terms as county executive, from 2002 to 2009, said in a&nbsp;news conference in Queens Village on Thursday: “In 2007, ICE came to Nassau County with 96 warrants and they refused to coordinate with the Nassau County Police Department and it turns out that 90 of the 96 warrants had the wrong address and they broke down the doors and went into peoples’ houses that had nothing to do with the warrants they are trying to execute.” 
In a complaint filed with federal officials at the time, then-Nassau Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said ICE agents during raids mistakenly drew their guns twice on Nassau County police detectives. 
John Clark, deputy assistant secretary for ICE,&nbsp;told Newsday in a statement in October 2007: “We're not of the opinion that anything was done wrong.” 
ICE and Nassau police officials, after a meeting coordinated by then-Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), agreed to move forward, with Mulvey asking ICE to work with him directly on any future operations, according to a Newsday report. 
A Suozzi campaign ad released Wednesday&nbsp;notes his&nbsp;vote as a House member for increased funding for ICE.&nbsp;The ad features a clip of Suozzi speaking to Fox News in July 2018 and asserting: “I support ICE and I think that they have an important job to do in this country securing our border, making sure people don’t overstay,” Suozzi says. 
Suozzi repeatedly has said stemming the flow of migrants will require action by both political parties. He has pointed to an April 2019 immigration reform proposal he drafted with King as an example of his willingness to work across the aisle on the issue. 
Pilip and Nassau Republicans also are honing in on&nbsp;immigration as a prominent issue in the 3rd District campaign. 
“When you think about the migrants that are coming in, hundreds and thousands … it's a foreign invasion of our country,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told a crowd of county Republicans on Jan. 4&nbsp;at the The Lannin restaurant at Eisenhower Park. 
Pilip, who was born in Ethiopia and&nbsp;migrated to Israel as a child before eventually moving to the United States, has described herself as a “legal immigrant.” 
At a recent campaign event in Woodbury she said: “We can live [the] American dream, but it has to be done correctly.” 
At a news conference Thursday&nbsp;outside the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village, where about 1,000 migrants are being sheltered temporarily, Pilip said if elected she would work to “secure our border and invest in our brave ICE agents.” 
Pilip was asked about&nbsp;calls by Trump, the leading contender for the GOP presidential nomination this year, for congressional Republicans to reject a possible Senate deal for increased border security funding as well as defense funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Pilip only expressed support for a House Republican immigration bill,&nbsp; H.R. 2,&nbsp;that does not have the votes needed to pass in the Senate. 
“We have to see what the deal is and that we should have a deal first and foremost to protect our borders,” Pilip said. 
<h2>Abortion</h2> 
Democrat-aligned political action committees have used TV ads and mailers to try to tie Pilip to calls by House conservatives for a national abortion ban. 
Democratic groups also are taking aim at Pilip for accepting the state&nbsp;Conservative Party ballot line, noting the party's&nbsp;platform calls for the repeal of New York's “expanded abortion law.” That's a reference&nbsp;to a series of measures signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022 to protect access to abortions. The laws&nbsp;shield patients and abortion providers from criminal charges. 
At a recent campaign event at the Chabad of Oyster Bay in Woodbury, Pilip said Democrats had mischaracterized her views about abortion rights. 
Asked to define her stance on the issue, Pilip said she would not&nbsp;support a national abortion ban. 
Pilip told Newsday after the event: “Even though that I am religious, I have seven children, I am not going to impose my own beliefs to any woman. I'm not going to support a national abortion ban.” 
Pilip did not answer directly when asked whether she supports codifying&nbsp;Roe v. Wade. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 landmark&nbsp;decision that legalized abortion&nbsp;nationwide. 
“I have respect for our Supreme Court. It went back to the [states], and each state can make that decision based on the people. The people will vote,” she said. 
Suozzi has said he would support codification of Roe v. Wade, and his campaign has touted his endorsement by Planned Parenthood. 
But Suozzi faced criticism&nbsp;from abortion-rights supporters in past campaigns for his previous support of the Hyde Amendment that barred&nbsp;federal funding for abortions. Suozzi had called it “settled law” because it was enacted in 1977. 
After a pressure campaign from constituents in his House district in 2019, Suozzi co-sponsored and voted for a bill to repeal the Hyde Amendment. He also voted for the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act that passed the then-Democratic majority House in 2022. The measure, which never was taken up by the Senate, called for barring states from interfering with those seeking out-of-state abortions. 
<h2>Polling</h2> 
The lines of attack over immigration come as recent state and local polls show increasing concern about the issue among&nbsp;voters, particularly as New York City grapples with an influx of migrants bused from Texas, Arizona and Florida. 
An&nbsp;Emerson College Polling/Pix11 poll released Jan. 18 found immigration ranked as the top concern among voters in the 3rd District:&nbsp;26%&nbsp;of voters said immigration was&nbsp;the most important issue to them in the special election, compared with&nbsp;22%&nbsp;who cited economy&nbsp;and 4%&nbsp;who cited&nbsp;abortion access. 
A Siena College poll released Monday&nbsp;found more than 80% of voters statewide described the migrant influx as a serious problem. 
“It’s certainly top of mind for voters,” said Don Levy, director of the Siena College Research Institute. 
Levy told Newsday concerns about immigration are more pronounced&nbsp;among voters in New York City’s suburbs, including the 3rd District, which includes Nassau County's North Shore and portions of northeast Queens County. 
“If you look just strictly at the suburbs of New York City … that number is up a little bit at 87%, so it's more top of mind to residents of [3rd District] that the migrant influx is a problem,”&nbsp;Levy said. “They're desperately unsatisfied with the job that government at every level is doing.” 
While the issue of abortion access has helped Democrats win critical elections elsewhere in the United States over the past two years, Siena found it did little to move the needle on Long Island in 2022 races for Congress. That year, Republicans picked up two seats with Anthony D’Esposito’s victory over Democrat Laura Gillen in the 4th District in Nassau, and expelled GOP Rep. George Santos’ defeat of Democrat Robert Zimmerman in the 3rd. 
“What we found in previous elections is that New Yorkers are somewhat sanguine when it comes to the abortion issue because they don't feel threatened here in New York,” Levy said. 
With Scott Eidler and Paul LaRocco

USNATIONAL240128

Immigration, abortion issues roil Congress special election in Nassau

usNATIONAL240128_photos

Candice Ferrette

Republican candidate Mazi Melesa Pilip and Democrat Tom Suozzi, who are facing off in the Feb. 13 special election in the 3rd Congressional District, held dueling news conferences in Queens Thursday about federal immigration policy. 
In her first news conference since announcing her candidacy last month, Pilip stood across the street from the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village, where&nbsp;nearly 1,000 migrants are living temporarily, and vowed to work to secure the southern border if elected.&nbsp; 
Pilip, a Nassau County legislator and an Ethiopian-born Israeli American, is competing with Suozzi to fill the seat of expelled former GOP Rep. George Santos.&nbsp; 
Pilip said neighbors of the temporary shelter at Creedmoor have “reported incidents of intimidating encounters with migrants who have demanded money and harassed children and engaged in public drinking and drug use.” 
The state property sits on the edge of the 3rd District, which cover's Nassau's North Shore, South Shore communities such as Massapequa and portions of Northern Queens. 
“The cost of the migrant crisis can be measured in dollars and cents, violence and criminal activities, as well as the destruction of our local quality of life,”&nbsp;Pilip said to a small group of reporters. 
Pilip campaign spokesman Brian Devine did not respond to a reporter's request for copies of police reports to support Pilip's assertions,&nbsp;saying Pilip had heard from residents about crime and other issues while on the campaign trail. 
Suozzi, who served three terms representing the 3rd District,&nbsp;held his own press availability at the Creedmoor&nbsp;site shortly after Pilip's event concluded Thursday morning.&nbsp; 
Minutes after Pilip walked down the block with Nassau GOP officials and supporters, Suozzi drove up from the opposite direction and greeted reporters and camera crews who had yet to take down their tripods and microphones.&nbsp; 
Suozzi said it was important “to just come here and rebut some of the things she brought up, directly, and talk about this immigration crisis that is affecting so many families in this area and throughout the United States of America.”&nbsp; 
Suozzi&nbsp;said Pilip was mimicking immigration talking points of national and local Republican Party “bosses” and oversimplifying a complicated issue. 
The back-to-back events along Hillside Avenue&nbsp;come as New York City tries to cope with an influx of more than 170,000 asylum-seeking migrants from central and South America.&nbsp; 
Pilip sidestepped a question about whether she sided with former President Donald&nbsp;Trump, who last week&nbsp;called on Republican lawmakers to reject a proposed deal&nbsp;to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan along with&nbsp;billions of dollars in funding to boost enforcement at the southern border. 
Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-Island Park), who accompanied Pilip at the news&nbsp;conference, answered the question first, criticizing President Biden and other Democrats for inaction on the migrant crisis. 
After about two minutes, the reporter&nbsp;asked&nbsp;“Can we hear from Mazi now?” 
“Yes let me just finish my point,” D'Esposito said. 
Pilip echoed&nbsp;D'Esposito saying, “over 200 days ago, we [Republicans]&nbsp;submitted a plan on how to protect our borders and nobody did anything about it. We have to secure our borders that's our priority right now … we have to see what the deal is first.” 
Suozzi called the House Republicans' legislation, H.R. 2, “draconian,&quot; for including measures such as not allowing humanitarian parole for immigrants from Ukraine and Afghanistan on an emergency basis. 
That bill&nbsp;“goes way too far that&nbsp;you will never get a single Democratic vote for. It's a my-way-or-the-highway bill. And the Democrats who say 'my way or the highway' are wrong too. The key to solving problems is compromise. You gotta get both sides to cut a deal.” 
The bill also called for reinstatement of Trump-era policies such as construction of a wall along the southern border. 
Devine cut off a reporter's questions about other topics such as discrepancies between financial disclosure forms Pilip&nbsp;filed as a county legislator and as a congressional candidate. 
Newsday reported this week that Pilip listed assets on her county financial disclosure that were not included in her filings as a federal candidate. In the Nassau disclosure, for instance, Pilip said her husband, a physician,&nbsp;was an owner or partner in three businesses besides his main medical companies listed on the federal disclosure forms. 
Devine said in a statement the businesses “have not taken off and have no value. As such, it is not appropriate for these entities to be reported in [the federal] disclosure.”

POPILIP240126

Mazi Pilip, Tom Suozzi trade barbs on immigration at dueling news conferences

Pilip, Suozzi trade barbs on immigration at dueling news conferences

Nassau County Legis. Mazi Melesa Pilip, the Republican nominee in the 3rd Congressional District special election, listed assets on her county financial disclosure that were not included in <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/pilip-suozzi-3rd-district-special-election-new-york-snid5irm">her filings as a federal candidate</a>, newly obtained&nbsp;county records&nbsp;show. 
Pilip, in the county filing last May,&nbsp;detailed investments with her husband such as a co-op&nbsp;and medical startups. Her&nbsp;campaign said disclosure of the holdings was not required on the federal report&nbsp;Pilip&nbsp;submitted recently to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, disputing&nbsp;the opinion of an ethics watchdog. 
On both the county and federal disclosures, Pilip also reported income earned from her husband Dr. Adalbert Pilip's&nbsp;medical practice, New York Comprehensive Medical Care, despite her campaign having said she stopped working there in 2021. 
Newsday obtained the Nassau financial disclosure this week through&nbsp;a state Freedom of Information Law&nbsp;request made last month. Income amounts and ranges, unlike on her House disclosures, were redacted. The county said&nbsp;the information was exempt from release to prevent invasion of privacy. 
Pilip initially had reported to the House clerk earnings of&nbsp;$50,000 in each of the last two years from the medical practice, where she said she worked as operations director. Pilip spokesman Brian Devine has said the House disclosure was a draft filed in error. In a&nbsp;revised version filed days later,&nbsp;Pilip reported no income from the practice in 2023 and $13,472 in 2022. 
The federal disclosures said <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/pilip-suozzi-special-election-new-york-kstff70o">Pilip and her husband owed </a>the Internal Revenue Service&nbsp;between $100,000 and $250,000 in income tax as of April 2023. The campaign has said the debt&nbsp;has been paid. 
The May 2023 county disclosure also listed a debt to the IRS, but didn't specify an amount or&nbsp;date. 
Pilip, 44, of Great Neck,&nbsp;faces Democrat Tom Suozzi, 61, of Glen Cove, in the Feb. 13 special election to replace expelled GOP Rep. George Santos in&nbsp;New York’s 3rd District, which covers northern Nassau, South Shore communities such as&nbsp;Massapequa, and&nbsp;parts of eastern Queens. 
The personal finances of both Pilip and <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/suozzi-pilip-special-election-new-york-yifjue3m">Suozzi</a>,&nbsp;who&nbsp;held the 3rd District seat from 2017 through 2022, are under scrutiny following&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/george-santos-congress-scandal-campaign-finance-complete-coverage-uie3unwn?page=all&amp;single=1">Santos’ fabrications </a>about his biography and federal criminal allegations&nbsp;that he defrauded campaign donors for personal profit and lied on his financial disclosures. 
In the Nassau&nbsp;disclosure, Pilip said her husband was an owner or partner in three businesses besides his main medical companies listed on the federal forms. The ventures&nbsp;include Infuse Chi, described in a 2022 news release as “an all-natural electrolyte hydration” powder. 
Devine said in a statement&nbsp;the businesses “have not taken off and have no value. As such, it is not appropriate for these entities to be reported in [the federal] disclosure.” 
The county form also listed Mazi and Adalbert Pilip as owners&nbsp;of a co-op in addition to their home in Great Neck. Devine said Mazi Pilip's in laws reside at the co-op, it yielded no rental income and that lawyers with knowledge of federal reporting guidelines advised the campaign that it was not subject to disclosure. 
The property was listed on the county form under the investments category, and&nbsp;Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit watchdog in Washington, D.C., said&nbsp;“federal financial disclosure laws require disclosure of investment property even if it did not generate rental income.” 
But Devine responded: &quot;Any attempts to otherwise characterize the proper treatment of this property ... are either based on a lack of reporting knowledge or politically motivated.&quot;

POPILIP240124

Mazi Pilip finances: Assets reported to Nassau differ from federal disclosure

Pilip finances: Assets reported to Nassau differ from federal disclosure

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WASHINGTON —&nbsp;The special election for New York’s 3rd Congressional District between Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip is spurring millions of dollars&nbsp;from&nbsp;outside political groups looking to boost their candidates in the widely watched race. 
Democratic groups have vastly outspent Republican-aligned groups, spending seven times as much, according to a Newsday analysis of expense reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.&nbsp;But campaign finance experts and strategists say Republicans could be gearing up to unleash more spending in the final leg of the race, particularly on get-out-the-vote efforts leading up to the Feb. 13 election. 
The race to fill the seat left open by expelled Republican Rep. George Santos has generated national interest as Republicans fight to preserve their razor-thin majority in the U.S. House and Democrats look to reverse some of their losses&nbsp;in federal and local races on Long Island over the past three years.&nbsp;The winner&nbsp;will serve out the remainder of Santos’ two-year term and would need to run again in November for a full term. 
“To put it simply, February is about November and the suburbs,” said Larry Levy, executive dean at Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies. “Who wins the&nbsp;3rd District goes beyond which party gets one more, or less, seat. It’s about seeing what tactics and strategies&nbsp;—&nbsp;particularly messaging&nbsp;—&nbsp;work or don’t work with the moderate swing voters who will determine which party controls the gavels of Congress, as well as the keys to the White House.” 
<h2>Ad spending</h2> 
More than $9 million in broadcast ad spending had&nbsp;been reserved as of Friday&nbsp;by the candidates and political action committees, according to AdImpact, a software company that tracks political ad spending. 
The bulk of that&nbsp;has been spent by Democrats, according to an analysis by AdImpact. House Majority PAC, a group focused on electing more House Democrats, has spent $3.8 million;&nbsp;the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the campaign arm for House Democrats, has so far spent $3.7 million;&nbsp;and Suozzi's campaign has spent about $723,000, all as of Thursday, according to the ad tracking service. 
The National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC), the campaign arm for House Republicans, has so far spent $847,000 in ad-buys and an additional $289,000 in a joint ad-buy with the Pilip campaign. The Pilip campaign has&nbsp;spent $230,000, according to AdImpact. 
“Ad spending generally increases in the home stretch of any competitive race, so expect those independent expenditure figures to continue to rise,” said Michael Beckel, research director at Issue One, a nonprofit group focused on reducing the influence of money in politics. 
<h2>PAC spending</h2> 
Political action committees&nbsp;supporting Suozzi’s bid to return to the seat he held from 2017 to 2022 are far outspending those supporting&nbsp;Pilip, according to&nbsp;reports that must be filed within 24 or 48 hours of expenditures to support or oppose a candidate. 
As of Monday, the most recent filings with the FEC show&nbsp;$6.3 million in independent expenditures have been filed between Dec. 20 and Jan. 19. The majority —&nbsp;$5.5 million—&nbsp;stems from groups supporting Suozzi, compared with&nbsp;$735,400 by pro-Pilip groups. 
The biggest spenders in the race include the DCCC, House Majority PAC&nbsp;and Battleground New York, a PAC formed to flip House seats won by Republicans in 2022 that are in districts won by President Joe Biden in 2020. 
“Democrats are committed to doing everything possible to get the word out about Tom Suozzi’s long record of working with anyone to deliver for Nassau and Queens,”&nbsp;DCCC spokesperson Ellie Dougherty said&nbsp;in a statement. 
House Majority PAC announced last month&nbsp;it planned to spend $5.2 million for TV and digital ad reservations, in addition to $700,000 for mailers. As of Jan. 13, the group has reported spending $487,000, but that does not include the money spent on reserving time for TV ads. 
“With these initial television and digital reservations and mail program, House Majority PAC is making it clear that we will do whatever it takes to take back the House in 2024 —&nbsp;and NY-03 represents the opportunity to make that happen,” House Majority PAC president Mike Smith said in a statement. 
Across the aisle, the NRCC and the Congressional Leadership Fund, a PAC focused on electing more House Republicans, have been working to boost Pilip. 
&quot;The NRCC is honored to work hand-in-glove with Mazi Pilip, the local County Parties, and the NYGOP to ensure we stop Joe Biden and Tom Suozzi’s agenda,” said NRCC spokeswoman Savannah Viar said in a statement. 
On Friday, the Congressional Leadership Fund said it plans&nbsp;to spend $2.3 million over the next two weeks on TV, digital&nbsp;and mail ads taking aim at Suozzi's record. 
Winning for Women, a PAC focused on electing conservative women to Congress,&nbsp;announced last week it “will make a six-figure investment in digital ads, texting and direct mail urging voters to support Pilip.” 
&quot;With Democrats already spending heavily … we are stepping up to help set the record straight and send an accomplished leader to Washington to represent this battleground district,” the group said in a statement. 
<h2>PAC messaging</h2> 
Federal election law bars PACs from coordinating directly with candidates and their campaigns, “but there are tools to ensure that the outside group isn’t conflicting with the candidate’s message,” said former Rep. Steve Israel, a Huntington Democrat who spent 16 years in Congress, including four as the head of the DCCC. 
“Outside groups do their own polling, which reveals effective and ineffective messaging,” Israel told Newsday. “They can also follow the public messaging of the candidate's campaign, to ensure alignment. And candidate campaigns can post, for public consumption, information about their opponents which can be utilized freely by the outside groups. The firewalls are thick and sturdy when it comes to coordinating on private activities and information, but anything public is fair game.” 
Republican campaign strategist Michael Dawidziak, of Bohemia, said sometimes PACs can undermine a candidate’s messaging if they’re not familiar with the political dynamics of Long Island. 
“They don't understand that Long Island has a very unique set of issues that defy being classified as blue or red issues,” said Dawidziak. “Oftentimes these people from Washington, they put ads on that they think are helping and they don't necessarily help.” 
Dawidziak cited as an example Democratic PAC-funded ads&nbsp;that focused on the issue of abortion during the 2022 midterm election. While the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning federal abortion protections has largely&nbsp;helped Democratic candidates across the country, the issue did little to move the needle on Long Island that year. Republicans picked up two seats as Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman and Anthony D’Esposito beat Democrat Laura Gillen in the 4th&nbsp;Congressional District. 
Dawidziak said while Republican spending may look like it’s lagging, GOP groups might be&nbsp;waiting to&nbsp;spend more in the final weeks before the election.&nbsp;PACs can line up vendors for mailers, TV ads and canvassing efforts and pay them after&nbsp;elections, allowing them to skip&nbsp;FEC requirements to report&nbsp;payments in a 48-hour time frame. 
“It might be one of these things where they delay the billing for a cycle, for two weeks, so they make the next filing,” Dawidziak said. “You don't want to give the other side the playbook. You don't want to tell them where you're spending the money.” 
With Paul LaRocco

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Outside political groups have spent $6.3M in 3rd Congressional District race

Outside political spending tops $6M in Congress special election

Democrat Tom Suozzi has been&nbsp;Glen Cove mayor, Nassau County executive and served three terms representing New York's&nbsp;3rd Congressional District. But as he runs in the upcoming 3rd District special election, he resembles&nbsp;the newcomer, scheduling regular news conferences&nbsp;and snapping up invitations for debates and forums. 
Republican-backed Mazi Melesa Pilip, of Great Neck, is a second-term Nassau legislator who until recently was little known outside her district. But she is running something of an incumbent's “Rose Garden” campaign, avoiding both the open availabilities&nbsp;with reporters and the public events&nbsp;with Suozzi, as she relies on the muscle of the Nassau GOP's voter turnout operation. 
The role reversal spotlights the dramatically different strategies of each campaign in the intensely watched, well-funded sprint to replace expelled GOP Rep. George Santos.&nbsp;An Emerson College/PIX11 poll released last week showed Suozzi and Pilip in a dead heat, with 45% of the roughly 1,000 registered voters surveyed saying they planned to vote for Suozzi, and 42% for Pilip. 
Early voting begins Feb. 3, and Election Day is Feb. 13.&nbsp; 
Nassau Republicans are expressing confidence, particularly after notching wins in almost every major race in the county since 2021. They say they hope voter distaste for state and national Democratic policies on inflation, crime and border security will overshadow questions about Pilip’s visibility and brief&nbsp;legislative record. 
Democrats, who lack an energized base of progressive voters in a district that, before Santos, had elected a series of moderates, are highlighting Suozzi's&nbsp;positions on&nbsp;issues the GOP often emphasizes, such as veterans affairs and support for Israel. 
They hope to make inroads in redder parts of the 3rd District where Pilip, 44, a registered Democrat and&nbsp;Ethiopian Israeli immigrant who served in the Israel Defense Forces, may not&nbsp;be&nbsp;as well known as Suozzi, who won his first elected post more than 30 years ago. Suozzi, 61, served as Nassau County executive from 2002 to 2009 and&nbsp;positioned himself as a moderate during his three terms&nbsp;in the House, from 2017 to 2022, although&nbsp;Republicans are now trying to paint&nbsp;him as an “extreme” liberal. 
The campaign strategies of both Suozzi and Pilip carry risks, political experts say. 
“I think those opportunities for a candidate like [Pilip]&nbsp;create both perils and promise,” Jacob Neiheisel, associate professor of political science at SUNY Buffalo, said of her avoiding debates and candidate forums. 
Participating in more of those events&nbsp;with Suozzi “could certainly help her name recognition,” Neiheisel told Newsday. In avoiding them, Pilip is confining herself to “controlled environments where you're going to try to stick to your strengths.” 
For Suozzi, “it’s certainly not costless either. Any time you have a town hall meeting and you're in these open types of forums, you can get people in there who can shut down the conversation,&nbsp;or otherwise make a scene or get you on the record in a way you don't&nbsp;want to be,”&nbsp;Neiheisel said. 
The benefit is exposure and being able to “craft an image as a candidate who's open and willing to debate,”&nbsp;Neiheisel said. 
<h2>Plying different&nbsp;tactics</h2> 
Suozzi so far has attended several&nbsp;candidate forums without Pilip in communities such as New Hyde Park, Plainview&nbsp;and Whitestone, Queens. He's accepted&nbsp;invitations to debate on New York City television networks, while Pilip has declined. He's held news conferences on subjects such as immigration reform and the environment. Last week, gun control advocates joined him on Zoom to endorse his candidacy. 
“I’ve got 90% name recognition. She’s got much lower name recognition,” Suozzi told a&nbsp;crowd of about&nbsp;70 people&nbsp;at a Lakeville Civic Association candidates forum on Jan. 11, which&nbsp;Pilip had declined.&nbsp;“Normally, I’d be the one saying, ‘No debates.’ ” 
Suozzi suggested Republicans appear to be counting on “the Republican machine [going]&nbsp;back to like it was in the old days” before he was county executive, when the GOP could get “400 workers from the Town of Oyster Bay, the Town of North Hempstead, Town of Hempstead, the county, to go out and hand out literature.” 
At a party on Jan. 4 for Republicans at the Lannin restaurant in Eisenhower Park, Nassau GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo&nbsp;shared his own view of how Democrats would campaign:&nbsp;“I know what their game plan is. They're gonna go to Levittown. They're gonna go to Massapequa. They're gonna go to all those places, especially in the Italian communities, and think because [Suozzi's] name ends in a vowel, he's going to take those communities. He ain't going to do that.” 
After redistricting in 2022, the 3rd District picked up the South Shore Nassau communities of Levittown and Massapequa, both GOP strongholds. The district also includes Nassau's North Shore and parts of northern Queens. 
While Pilip has avoided one-on-one events&nbsp;with Suozzi, she has spoken frequently&nbsp;at large-scale Republican events in the district.&nbsp; 
In December, she announced her bid&nbsp;in a speech in Massapequa after many party&nbsp;elected officials had given speeches pumping her up. 
On Sunday, Pilip took questions from a group of about 40 people gathered at the Chabad of Oyster Bay in Woodbury. 
Asked by an audience member to define her stance on abortion rights, Pilip said she would never support a national abortion ban “or force my own beliefs on any woman.” 
Another attendee asked whether Pilip agreed with some Republicans who have referred to members of a pro-Donald Trump crowd who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 as “patriots.” Pilip asked the man to repeat his question, but Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman cut in. 
“I don't think anybody in the New York Republican hierarchy has endorsed any kind of lawlessness on any level,” Blakeman said. 
Afterward, Pilip told Newsday: “I don't encourage violence, there is no place for violence, you have to respect the law.&quot; 
To date, Pilip has committed to one public debate with Suozzi — on News 12 Long Island on Feb. 8,&nbsp;after the start of early voting and five days before Election Day. 
Cairo dismissed assertions&nbsp;by&nbsp;the Suozzi campaign that Pilip is “in hiding.” 
“She’s not keeping a low public profile,” Cairo told Newsday.&nbsp;“She’s all over, she’s making public appearances. She’s out there pounding the pavement.” 
<h2>Spreading the word to voters</h2> 
Already, GOP lawn signs are everywhere on major roadways from Sunrise Highway in Massapequa to Jericho Turnpike in Woodbury. 
Suozzi's signs dot major roadways as well, with his motto in large print: “Let's Fix This!”&nbsp; 
Democrats still outpace&nbsp;the GOP on the TV airwaves. Democratic political action committees got onto TV with ads nearly two weeks before Republicans did. 
As of Jan. 18, Democratic PACs were responsible for much of the $5.3 million in spending by outside groups, according to federal campaign filings. 
“We have neighbors knocking on local doors,&nbsp;and that’s going to be more effective than millions of dollars on broadcast TV,” Cairo said. 
Alexander Coppock, an&nbsp;associate professor of political science at Yale University, said it's often difficult to judge&nbsp;the effectiveness of old-school pavement pounding&nbsp;compared with heavy television advertising. 
“Some candidates just keep their head down and focus&nbsp;on getting their message out, and then other people are chasing headlines and retweets,” he said. “Both strategies end up with elected candidates.” 
But given the compressed time period of the special election campaign, he said, “there is a glimmer of evidence to suggest that ads are more effective earlier in campaigns than later.” 
Interviews with voters over the past several weeks show district voters are paying attention to the special election. 
Peter Delaurentis, 89, of Massapequa,&nbsp;said last Monday he was impressed by Pilip's candidacy. Seated at the bar at the American Legion Post 1066 with other veterans, Delaurentis said: “I like her politics.” He added:&nbsp;“I've seen her,” and “I know who she is.” 
Outside&nbsp;the Massapequa Diner on Sunrise Highway, a handful of voters&nbsp;said they were supporting Suozzi and&nbsp;knew little about Pilip or her record. 
Mark and Ronnie Semelman, of Seaford, both Democrats, said they were furious with Santos, who was expelled from the House on Dec. 1. 
Suozzi, they said, was a familiar face. 
“He has a history,” Mark Semelman said. 
Santos has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he filed fraudulent fundraising reports to obtain financial support for his congressional campaign and stole thousands of dollars from his campaign contributors. 
Cairo all along has expressed confidence in his ground game and has told his supporters to ignore heavy spending by Democrats&nbsp;and outside groups&nbsp;in the race. 
At the Eisenhower Park event early this month, Cairo&nbsp;joked about the Democrats' ground game. If they bring in paid outside workers to knock on doors,&nbsp;he said,&nbsp;“they'll get tired after a few hours, they'll go get a slice of pizza. That'll be the end of it. We have all of you: knocking on neighbors' doors, talking to people that you went to school with, people you go to church or temple with, people who you coach their kids in soccer, they coach your kids.” 
Suozzi told the civic association crowd in New Hyde Park that, if they want to help him win, they'll need to do much the same. 
“If you say, 'I like Tom Suozzi,' then&nbsp;I need you to tell your friends and tell your neighbors, tell your relatives and tell the people and spread the word,” Suozzi said.&nbsp; 
“If you hear me tonight and say, 'I don't like Tom Suozzi,' 'Never liked Tom Suozzi,' 'He's no good,' 'He's full of it,' just keep it to yourself.” 
With Laura Figueroa Hernandez

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Tom Suozzi, Mazi Pilip running starkly different campaigns in 3rd Congressional district race

Pilip, Suozzi ply divergent strategies in Congress special election

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Tom Suozzi and&nbsp;Mazi Pilip have nontraditional campaign strategies. NewsdayTV&#39;s Macy Egeland and Newsday reporter Paul LaRocco report.

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On the trail: Tom Suozzi, Mazi Pilip's campaign strategies

'Risks on both sides'

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Democrat Tom Suozzi on Wednesday condemned&nbsp;Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip's campaign for referring to him as the “godfather of the border crisis,” saying her spokesman's criticism evoked Italian American stereotypes. 
Suozzi, a former congressman and Nassau County executive, and Pilip, a Nassau County legislator, are&nbsp;in a Feb. 13 special election to fill the seat left vacant by expelled Rep. George Santos in&nbsp;New York’s 3rd Congressional District.&nbsp; 
Suozzi, who held the seat from 2017 to 2022, objected to a quote from Pilip spokesman Brian Devine about the&nbsp;migrant crisis. It&nbsp;appeared Tuesday&nbsp;in an online story in The New York Post, and Pilip&nbsp;posted it&nbsp;on her campaign account on X, formerly known as Twitter. 
“No amount of political spin can change the fact that Tom Suozzi is the godfather of the border crisis,” Devine said in the statement on behalf of Pilip's campaign.&nbsp; 
Suozzi, who is Italian American, questioned why the campaign had used the term. 
“You can call me a lot of things that are inaccurate, you can call me all kinds of names which they have throughout this campaign. But why would you call me 'the godfather?' ” Suozzi asked in an unrelated Zoom conference call with reporters. “Why would you use that particular expression?&quot; 
Suozzi speaks of his Italian heritage frequently. His father, Joseph, was born in Ruvo del Monte, a village in southern Italy.&nbsp;He and his mother immigrated to New York in 1925, when they joined Joseph&nbsp;Suozzi's father. 
Earlier Wednesday, during a candidate forum at the Mid-Island Y Jewish Community Center in Plainview, Suozzi talked about&nbsp;the prejudice his father experienced as an immigrant. 
&quot;They used to say about the Italians during World War II —&nbsp;the Italians teamed up with the Germans —&nbsp;that you're more loyal to your country than you are to America,&quot; Suozzi recalled. &quot;They used to say to my father, ‘go back to where you came from.’&nbsp;” 
Devine declined to comment. 
In a statement, Pilip campaign manager Aidan Strongreen did not address the &quot;godfather&quot;&nbsp;descriptor and said&nbsp;Suozzi was trying to &quot;deflect attention away from his dismal record&quot; on immigration. 
Fred Gardaphe,&nbsp;professor of Italian American Studies at Queens College, said before the novel and film &quot;The Godfather&quot; came out more than 50 years ago, the word referred to a venerated person in Italian American culture, someone responsible for raising a child if something happened to the parents. 
&quot;The real meaning of 'the godfather' is an honorable person,&quot; Gardaphe said. &quot;That meaning got changed to refer to the word 'gangsters' in the non-Italian mind.&quot; 
Bob Ferrito, national president of the Order of Sons of Italy Commission on Social Justice, said the Pilip campaign had used&nbsp;“a poor choice of words.&quot; 
“They could have chosen a number of other words to describe whatever they weren’t pleased with Mr. Suozzi,&quot; Ferrito said.

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Tom Suozzi objects to Mazi Melesa Pilip campaign calling him 'godfather'

Suozzi to Pilip campaign: Don't call me 'godfather'

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A week after Republicans tapped Israeli military veteran&nbsp;Mazi Melesa Pilip to run in New York’s 3rd Congressional District special election, Tom Suozzi, her Democratic opponent, was on a flight to Israel to meet&nbsp;the families of kidnapped hostages. 
Both candidates’ full-throated support for Israel in its war with Hamas has become central as they court the district's&nbsp;large population&nbsp;of Jewish voters with varying political ideologies. 
While no statistics were available for the number of Jewish voters in the district, as of 2020, Nassau County’s Jewish population was 192,000, according to&nbsp;Brandeis University's&nbsp;American Jewish Population Project. Long Island is home to about 300,000 Jews, the fourth largest in the nation, behind New York City, Los Angeles and South Florida, Brad Kolodny, president of the Jewish Historical Society of Long Island, has said. 
The GOP's selection of Pilip, an Ethiopian Israeli immigrant who is beginning her second term in the Nassau County Legislature, along with&nbsp;Suozzi’s early trip to Israel, show the importance of the Jewish vote along the county's&nbsp;North Shore, which has&nbsp;some of the most densely populated Jewish communities in the nation, political experts said. 
“Both parties know that Jews make up a big portion of the election in that district, and they’re going to play for them,”&nbsp;said Ira Sheskin, director of the Jewish Demography Project at the University of Miami&nbsp;and editor of the&nbsp;American Jewish Year Book. Sheskin has&nbsp;studied political trends in American Jewish communities.&nbsp; 
The Feb. 13 special election to replace expelled GOP Rep. George Santos pits Suozzi, 61, of Glen Cove, who represented the 3rd District from 2017 to 2022, against Pilip, 44, of Great Neck, an Orthodox Jew and&nbsp;registered Democrat running on the Republican and Conservative Party lines. Great Neck is home to the Island's largest Jewish population. 
Republicans say they are working to turn out their&nbsp;base of Orthodox Jewish voters, primarily on the Great Neck peninsula, where Pilip has lived for a decade. 
“I think they’re going to be more motivated and reach out to more of their friends and neighbors because of the circumstances,” Nassau Republican chairman Joseph Cairo said of the Orthodox community, citing Pilip's background and the war, which began Oct. 7 with Hamas' attack on Israel. Cairo toured Israel in September&nbsp;with a group of local GOP lawmakers&nbsp;to forge a stronger connection with his constituency. 
The Suozzi campaign will target&nbsp;Reform and Conservative Jews&nbsp;in Plainview, Woodbury, Syosset, Jericho, Roslyn and Port Washington, said Jay Jacobs, chairman of the state and Nassau Democratic committees. 
“Those areas have leaned Democratic,”&nbsp;Jacobs said. “We need to firm that vote up, solidify it and bring out the vote for Tom Suozzi in large numbers to offset anything that goes on in the Orthodox community.” 
<h2>Different appeals</h2> 
While both Pilip and Suozzi are pro-Israel, they are making&nbsp;different appeals to Jewish voters in the district. 
Pilip says her military service and personal connection to Israel make her uniquely suited to represent the 3rd District. She immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia at age 12 and served as a gunsmith in a paratrooper brigade of the Israeli Defense Forces before attending college in Israel and moving&nbsp;to the United States. 
Pilip said the impetus for her&nbsp;campaign was social media posts last month suggesting that Palestinian supporters during a protest had removed an American flag from a flagpole&nbsp;on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The posts appeared about a week before Pilip launched her House campaign on Dec. 14. 
“I could not see that — American soldiers died for that flag. I know, because I served,” she told Newsday. 
A bridge, highway and transportation&nbsp;authority spokesman told news outlets the American flag was not actually removed, but protesters did hoist a Palestinian flag beneath where&nbsp;it&nbsp;was flying. A widely shared video only showed&nbsp;a lower portion of the flagpole. 
Suozzi, a&nbsp;former Nassau County executive and Glen Cove mayor&nbsp;who is Roman Catholic, said he traveled to Israel on Dec. 22&nbsp;to emphasize his support for the U.S.-Israel relationship. 
“Not many people care about Israel, but the people who do care about Israel, it’s their No. 1 issue,” he said in an interview.&nbsp;“They’re one-issue voters.” 
Suozzi said he has “always&nbsp;been very strong on Israel, and I wanted to make sure I made that very clear as this race commences.” 
<h2>Political and&nbsp;generational gaps</h2> 
A 2020 Pew Research study found 71% of Jewish Americans identified as Democrats, or as Democrat-leaning. 
Only 26% of the American Jewish population said they were Republican or Republican-leaning, Pew found. 
The reverse is true for&nbsp;Orthodox Jewish voters. About 75% of Orthodox Jews identified as Republican or Republican-leaning, while 20% of Orthodox Jews identified as Democrats or Democrat-leaning, according to the Pew study. 
Ilai Saltzman, director of the Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, said the war “has been tearing apart not only [Jewish American] communities, but also families.” 
The split isn't only between Orthodox Jews and Reform and Conservative Jews, but also between older and younger Jews. Members of the older generation&nbsp;are&nbsp;more likely to have known Holocaust survivors and remember “the multiple wars where Israel was the weaker party,” Saltzman said. 
Younger Jewish Americans, having&nbsp;grown up “with Israel as the more powerful party,” aren't as politically defined by their relationship with the country&nbsp;and may be more willing to criticize the government's response in Gaza, even as they condemn the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians that started the war. 
“There's a generational gap that is significant between 65-plus-year-olds and Gen Z's, millennials that will, in all likelihood, tie into this particular race for this particular district,” Saltzman said in an interview. 
Saltzman said&nbsp;Pilip’s back story “certainly will have some political appeal, because there's optics there beyond the policies or beyond the positions.” 
But Sheskin noted: “Most of the reform Jews, in particular, regardless of who the Republicans put up, are not going to vote for a Republican, particularly right now when control of the House of Representatives is at stake.&quot; 
<h2>'The issue becomes the party'</h2> 
Suozzi and his allies have argued that Congress needs a pro-Israel Democrat to oppose progressive Democrats who are critical of Israel. 
Mark Mellman, a co-chair of the Democratic Majority For Israel, a super PAC that supports pro-Israel candidates and opposes detractors, said Suozzi will be&nbsp;“willing and able to take on the Israel detractors that are in the Democratic caucus.” 
“It’s a small group. It’s a group that needs to be fought,” Mellman&nbsp;said in an interview.&nbsp;“A Republican is not going to fight that battle&nbsp;in the Democratic&nbsp;caucus. You need Democrats to do that.” 
Republican backers of Pilip said the opposite is true&nbsp;—&nbsp;that increasing the ranks of Republicans is the&nbsp;best way to ensure maximum support for Israel.&nbsp; 
“The issue is not necessarily one individual, said&nbsp;Pedram Bral, a surgeon and the Great Neck Village mayor. “The issue becomes the party.” 
In 2011, 71% of Great Neck residents lived in Jewish households —&nbsp;the largest concentration on Long Island,&nbsp;according to the UJA-Federation of New York's&nbsp;Jewish Community Study of New York.&nbsp; 
Bral, 54, an Orthodox Jew who immigrated to the United States from Iran as a teen, is a former Democrat who said he appreciates Suozzi's support for Israel and has “nothing negative” to share&nbsp;about him. 
But Bral is&nbsp;endorsing Pilip, whom he's known for about a decade, noting&nbsp;that even for moderate Democrats, there is intense pressure to tack to the far left, “otherwise they get ridiculed, or they can even be called MAGA.”

POVOTE240114

Mazi Melesa Pilip, Tom Suozzi target Jewish votes in 3rd Congressional District special election

Suozzi, Pilip court Jewish voters in special election 

Republican congressional candidate Mazi Melesa Pilip made significant revisions to the personal financial disclosure she filed last week, removing nearly $90,000 in income from her husband’s medical practice, adding tens of thousands of dollars in stocks and other assets and tens of thousands of dollars in debt. 
The revisions were filed with the House clerk’s office late Friday, after Newsday on Thursday&nbsp;had published a story on Pilip’s initial filing for the Feb. 13 special election to replace expelled GOP Rep. George Santos. 
Most of the changes involve Pilip’s role in her husband Adalbert Pilip’s medical practice, New York Comprehensive Medical Care, where Pilip has said she worked as operations director. 
Pilip's <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/pilip-suozzi-special-election-new-york-kstff70o">initial House&nbsp;disclosure</a>, dated Jan. 10, listed a $50,000 salary from the Smithtown practice each in 2022 and 2023, in addition to&nbsp;Pilip’s $80,000 salary as a Nassau County legislator. 
Pilip campaign spokesman Brian Devine told Newsday on Sunday&nbsp;the first filing was&nbsp;inaccurate, and that Pilip, as indicated in the revised report, didn’t draw a salary from the practice in 2023 and made only $13,472 there in 2022, her first year as a county legislator. 
Devine didn't answer questions about how the errors were&nbsp;made or why the revised filing indicated that Pilip&nbsp;still drew income from&nbsp;her husband's practice in 2022. He said Pilip had stopped working there in 2021. 
The new filing also clarifies that the medical practice, valued between $1 million and $5 million, is solely owned by Adalbert Pilip. The initial disclosure left unclear whether the asset was jointly or individually owned. Her new filing listed the owner as “SP,”&nbsp;or spouse. Each of the forms listed investment proceeds from the company of between $100,001 and $1 million in each of the past two years. 
House financial disclosures require that assets and liabilities be reported only in broad ranges. 
“The report that was electronically filed on the 10th of January was a preliminary draft that was inadvertently submitted prior to final review by Mazi’s financial team,” Devine said in a statement. “A review of that draft by members of the financial team resulted in the amended financial report.” 
The revised disclosure added several other assets not on the first report. They include&nbsp;a state pension of between $1,001 and $15,000 that Mazi Pilip is earning credits toward&nbsp;as a county lawmaker, along with $51,001 to $115,000 in stock owned by Pilip and her husband in Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions Inc., a supplier of A.I. and robotics hardware and software. 
Pilip, a registered Democrat from Great Neck, reduced the value of her bitcoin investments from $65,000 to $150,000, to $16,000 to $65,000. She also reduced the estimated value of the couple’s joint bank accounts from $50,000 to $100,000 on the initial disclosure, to $15,000 to $50,000. 
For liabilities, Pilip’s first disclosure revealed an income tax debt of between $100,001 and $250,000 incurred with the Internal Revenue Service last April. Candidates don’t have to disclose such debt, but Devine said last week that Pilip listed&nbsp;it “out of an abundance of transparency.” 
The updated report notes what Devine told Newsday last week — that the debt has since been paid. 
The amended&nbsp;filing newly discloses&nbsp;personal credit card debt of Pilip's of between $10,000 and $15,000 along with&nbsp;Adalbert Pilip’s medical school student loan debt of between $50,001 and $100,001. 
Pilip and former Rep. Tom Suozzi, of Glen Cove, are running in the 3rd Congressional District to fill the remaining term of Santos, who&nbsp;fabricated large parts of his biography and was charged with filing false financial disclosures that grossly misrepresented his earnings and assets. 
Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics at the Washington, D.C., nonprofit watchdog Campaign Legal Center, said Sunday the Santos scandal “revealed that financial disclosure discrepancies may be the first warning sign that a candidate is not who they seem.” 
However, Payne noted that Pilip amended her disclosure quickly, “which is expected if a new filer made honest mistakes.” 
But post-Santos, “all candidate financial disclosure statements should be placed under a microscope,” said Payne, a former Office of Congressional Ethics deputy counsel who regularly reviewed financial disclosures. 
Suozzi, whom Democrats have nominated to run in the special election, filed revised financial disclosures during his three terms in Congress, from 2017 to 2022. 
Some revisions came after the House Ethics Committee launched a probe into Suozzi’s alleged failure to properly report approximately 300 financial transactions. According to the federal STOCK Act, members of Congress must report stock trades within 45 days of the transaction. 
Suozzi said he reported those trades, but only in his year-end House&nbsp;financial disclosure reports, several of which were&nbsp;amended after the original initial filings, records show. 
The Ethics Committee ultimately cleared Suozzi for the stock transactions. 
Suozzi filed his 2023&nbsp;candidate <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/suozzi-pilip-special-election-new-york-yifjue3m">financial disclosure</a> on Friday. He reported&nbsp;investments&nbsp;valued at between about $4 million and $6 million. Suozzi disclosed&nbsp;he earned more than $650,000 in salary and board and consulting fees in 2023, his first year back in the private sector after he relinquished his House seat for what became an unsuccessful campaign for governor. 
The bulk of those earnings came from consulting fees, Suozzi said. 
Newsday also has filed a Freedom of Information Law request for Pilip's Nassau County financial disclosure form, but the county has not yet provided it.

POPILIP240115

Mazi Melesa Pilip revises disclosure documents, removes nearly $90,000 in income

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Former Rep. Tom Suozzi, the Democratic candidate in the 3rd Congressional District special election, earned nearly $700,000 in salary and consulting fees in the private sector in 2023, according to his new House financial disclosure form. 
Suozzi, who faces Republican candidate Mazi Melesa Pilip in the Feb. 13 special election to replace expelled GOP Rep. George Santos, filed his 2023 disclosure with the House clerk’s office late Friday, his campaign said. The report was not available online as of Saturday&nbsp;afternoon, but the campaign provided Newsday with a copy. 
The bulk of Suozzi’s compensation — $535,000 — came from consulting fees listed under “Suozzi Consulting.” He disclosed&nbsp;clients such as the New York Community Bank, local engineering and development companies&nbsp;such as the LiRo Group of Syosset and Woodbury based E &amp; A Construction&nbsp;and Manhattan-based Actum LLC, where he served as a co-director. 
Suozzi also reported $35,000 in salary from Hercules Pharmaceuticals, a Port Washington-based wholesaler,&nbsp;and $82,500 in board fees from Global Industrial Corp., a New York-based supplier of industrial maintenance, repair and operations supplies. The company announced last year Suozzi would be an “independent member” of its board of directors. 
As with disclosures Suozzi filed annually as a member of the House, from 2017 to 2022, the new&nbsp;form listed&nbsp;a large portfolio&nbsp;of assets and&nbsp;investments, with an approximate total value of between&nbsp;$4 million and $6 million. House financial disclosures only require that assets and liabilities be reported in broad ranges. Suozzi listed no liabilities. 
Suozzi’s filing comes two days after&nbsp;Pilip filed her <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/pilip-suozzi-special-election-new-york-kstff70o">House disclosure</a>. Pilip, a Nassau County legislator from Great Neck and a registered Democrat, reported&nbsp;$80,000 in legislative salary and $50,000 from husband Adalbert Pilip’s Smithtown medical practice, New York Comprehensive Medical Care, where she worked as operations director. 
Pilip and her husband also reported assets of as much as $150,000 in bitcoin investments. They valued the&nbsp;medical practice at&nbsp;between $1 million and $5 million, reporting the business&nbsp;yielded between $100,001 and $1 million in unearned income in each of the last two years. 
The couple also&nbsp;disclosed a&nbsp;federal income tax liability of between $100,001 and $250,000 as of last April. The Pilip campaign told Newsday that debt had been paid. 
Suozzi's disclosure shows the former Nassau County executive and Glen Cove mayor&nbsp;earned significantly more in private sector income in 2023 than in the year before he first went to Congress. On his 2016 disclosure, Suozzi reported&nbsp;about $578,000 in salary, commissions and consulting fees, associated primarily with&nbsp;his of counsel role at the Harris Beach law firm in Uniondale, whose partners include prominent Nassau County Democrats such as Thomas Garry, vice chairman of the Nassau Democratic Committee. 
The value of Suozzi's assets and investments has remained largely the&nbsp;same since&nbsp;his years as a congressman representing the 3rd District. They include a minority ownership interest in summer camp companies and properties owned by Nassau Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs, who nominated Suozzi to run in the special election, and Suozzi's Ruvo Realty LLC, which owns office space in Glen Cove. 
Suozzi's congressional campaign paid rent to Suozzi, via Ruvo, in 2020 and 2021, records show.&nbsp;The campaign has said it received&nbsp;a legal opinion on the transaction from an ethics attorney who handles compliance issues, and that it was “fully disclosed and fully compliant.” 
Suozzi worked&nbsp;for Hercules Pharmaceuticals after the company's owner, Timothy Ward, had made more than $21,000 in contributions to Suozzi's congressional campaigns between 2016 and 2021, Federal Election Commission records show. 
The Suozzi campaign declined to&nbsp;comment Saturday about the&nbsp;new disclosure.

POSUOZZI240114

Tom Suozzi financial disclosure: Nearly $700,000 in income in 2023

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Yancey Roy

The Republican strategy for Tuesday’s special election in the 3rd Congressional District was clear: 
Tout Mazi Melesa Pilip’s profile but stay out of the limelight. Highlight her personal story&nbsp;and Israeli military background. Don’t do multiple debates, but zero-in on a hot-button issue:&nbsp;immigration. 
It didn’t work. The Republican-backed candidate lost to Democrat Tom Suozzi by 8 points — a surprising margin considering polls showed a much closer race. 
In the aftermath, analysts said a combination of factors worked to undo what had been a three-year winning Republican winning streak on Long Island: 
<ul> 
 <li>Suozzi, a former congressman and Nassau County executive, was well known to local voters, so GOP attempts to label him as an extreme Democrat failed.</li> 
 <li>Pilip was less known and was far less visible, running a “Rose Garden” campaign of avoiding the spotlight which ultimately allowed Democrats to attack her as supporting an extreme Republican agenda.</li> 
 <li>Pilip succeeded in making immigration a major issue, but it lost effectiveness when Republicans in Washington tanked a bipartisan immigration deal. It allowed Suozzi to go on the offensive.</li> 
 <li>Democrats had better turnout in early voting; Republicans might have paid a price for, as one analyst said, following Donald Trump’s lead of vilifying early voting.</li> 
</ul> 
All of it contributed to a Democratic win and a harsh post-mortem in a race being watched in national politics. 
“The GOP strategy of focusing on immigration and going with a fresh face was hardly a bad one,” said Lawrence Levy, dean of suburban studies at Hofstra University. 
“But they arguably were undone by the tactical mistakes of allowing Suozzi to go on the counteroffensive over the issue of bipartisanship and the reality that (Pilip) was, perhaps, more unprepared for a brighter spotlight on national and international affairs.” 
Pilip is a Nassau County legislator&nbsp;who works with the Republican conference even though she’s an enrolled Democrat. She’s an Ethiopian Jew who served in the Israel Defense Forces in a noncombat role and later immigrated to the United States. 
Many saw it as a strong profile for the congressional district, which leaned Democratic but elected the largely unknown George Santos in 2022 as part of “red wave” on Long Island. Santos had a shot at it because Suozzi, who held the seat for six years, decided to run a long shot and unsuccessful campaign for governor. 
Santos later was exposed for fabricating large parts of his biography and, more importantly, was&nbsp;indicted on 23 counts of campaign fraud and other charges. The U.S. House took the rare step of expelling Santos in December, creating the need&nbsp;for the special election. 
That Pilip followed Santos and was considered unknown did not help, in hindsight, analysts said. Especially after she kept a lower profile during the race and agreed to just one debate. 
Pilip largely avoided open availabilities with journalists and public events with Suozzi. 
“They had a candidate who didn’t go out there,” said Susan Del Percio, a Republican strategist. 
“Republicans were more about putting up a message than a person,” she said. “They tried to highlight (Pilip’s) history but people want to see the candidate — especially after the George Santos debacle. Suozzi is known in the district and he was out in the district.” 
“They needed to fight the battle of Mazi Pilip. They needed to fill in the blanks for people,” but didn’t, said veteran Republican strategist Michael Dawidziak. 
Further, Dawidziak said turnout is always the biggest factor in special elections and contended the “big flaw” in Republican strategy Tuesday and in other contests is to generally follow Trump’s lead in “vilifying” early voting and absentee voting. Early voting Tuesday showed much better turnout for Democrats, as it often does. 
“From what I can see, turnout was pretty even” on Election Day, he said, “so Suozzi probably won through early voting.” 
And there were other&nbsp;factors. 
Del Percio said Pilip and Republicans “put Suozzi on his heels on immigration,” but it turned around when House Republicans “tanked” a potential immigration deal in Washington. Pilip said she opposed the deal as well, opening a door for Suozzi. 
“To oppose the bipartisan agreement, I think, was a fundamental, tactical mistake,” Levy said of Pilip. “It gave Suozzi a chance to launch a counteroffensive and say, ‘I’m a problem solver. I’m a moderate. I’ll make compromises to get things done and she won’t.’ It enabled Suozzi to reframe the issue of immigration.” 
Republicans also tried to tag Suozzi as a member of the “squad,” a group of very progressive Democrats. It failed because Suozzi was well known as a much more moderate Democrat, said Sidney Davidoff, a longtime lobbyist and fixture in New York politics. 
“Anyone who knows anything about that district knows Suozzi isn’t” squad material, Davidoff said. “It would have been different with an unknown (Democrat). But with Suozzi, it was a failure.” 
Davidoff said Santos' surprise victory and later demise had to play a role as well. 
&quot;Somehow Santos got elected — they went to an unknown. They were burnt by it and a lot of them weren't going to take a chance on a second unknown,&quot; he&nbsp;said.

STSTRATEGY240215

GOP strategy behind Mazi Pilip's campaign fails to deliver a win

Several factors undid GOP strategy behind Mazi Pilip's campaign, analysts say

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WASHINGTON —&nbsp;The TV and digital ad war has begun between the camps of Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip as they begin to ramp up their campaigns in the Feb. 13 special election to replace George Santos in the 3rd Congressional District. 
The ads sponsored by both&nbsp;campaigns and by Suozzi’s allied Democratic PACs paint their opponents as extreme and tie them to positions that are unpopular with many of the districts’ moderate voters. 
Farmingdale State College political scientist Christopher Malone said those ads target “voters in the center who may lean slightly right or slightly left that eschew the partisan extremes on both sides and who want someone who puts Long Island&nbsp;first before Washington politicians.” 
Based on records and past statements, here are fact checks on ads for Suozzi, who served three terms in the U.S. House until he ran for governor in 2022, and Pilip, who is a Nassau County legislator and a registered Democrat running as a Republican. 
<h2>Suozzi: 'Common Ground'</h2> 
Suozzi’s only campaign ad depicts him as a problem solver. 
Claim: Suozzi worked across the aisle. 
Finding: His legislative record shows he did. 
Claim: Suozzi sought better health care for veterans. 
Finding: Suozzi worked with then-Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) to get federal support for a Northport VA rehab and backed bills to help veterans. 
Claim: Suozzi took on polluters and helped obtain $33 million in federal funds for Long Island’s environment. 
Finding: Suozzi joined the New York delegation to obtain $31 million in federal funds for Long Island Sound cleanup, and he won more than $2 million for local projects. 
Claim: Suozzi led the fight to bring economic relief to suburban families. 
Finding: Suozzi played a key role in passing a bill to lift the SALT cap in the House. The Senate did not pass it. 
<h2>Pilip: 'Mazi Pilip Will Stand Up to the Squad'</h2> 
The Pilip campaign’s only ad ties Suozzi to the Squad, a left-leaning Democratic group. 
Claim: Suozzi asked to join the Squad. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Brooklyn) said, “You’re in.” 
Finding: On MSNBC on July 14, 2019, Suozzi criticized then-President Donald Trump for&nbsp;saying Squad members&nbsp;should return to their “totally broken and crime-infested places.” Suozzi said, “I don’t agree with all the politics of the Squad, but today I want to be an honorary member of the Squad.” Ocasio-Cortez said he was “in,” but he is not a member. 
Claim: As Nassau County executive, Suozzi passed the largest tax increase in history, raising “property taxes by $200 million.” 
Finding: He did. Suozzi led the Nassau County Legislature in passing $200 million in property tax hikes and an energy-use tax&nbsp;to help the county recover from a $300 million deficit and billions in debt. 
Claim: Suozzi made Nassau a “sanctuary city” and “kicked ICE&nbsp;[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] out of Nassau County.” 
Finding: In a 2022 governor’s race debate, Suozzi said, “When I was county executive of Nassau County, I kicked ICE out of Nassau County.” He did that after what he called a “botched” ICE raid in 2007 that caught only six of 96 fugitives. Suozzi did not declare Nassau County&nbsp;a “sanctuary county.” 
Claim: Suozzi helped President Joe Biden let millions of illegal migrants cross the border. 
Finding: In 2021, Biden reversed most Trump restrictions on immigration and border crossings. Suozzi voted against Republican bills to preserve them and for bills allowing legal status for farmworkers and prohibiting presidents from barring entry based on religion. Suozzi stated support for stronger border security while in Congress. 
<h2>House Majority PAC: 'Deliver'</h2> 
The ad highlights what it calls Suozzi’s “common-sense solutions.” 
Claim: Working with both parties to strengthen the border and solve the migrant crisis.&nbsp; 
Finding: Suozzi and former Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford)&nbsp;proposed a compromise bill. 
Claim: Suozzi strengthened local police. 
Finding: In Congress, Suozzi voted for bills to fund and train police as well as for&nbsp;police reform after the death of George Floyd. As Nassau County executive, Suozzi battled with local police unions over pay and staffing. 
Claim: Suozzi delivered record low crime rates. 
Finding: The index crime rate dropped during Suozzi’s eight years as Nassau County executive, state data shows. 
King demanded the Suozzi campaign take down the ad and stop using his picture. The ad sponsor&nbsp;— the House Majority PAC, which must work separately from the campaign&nbsp;—&nbsp;declined. 
<h2>DCCC: 'Hand-picked'</h2> 
This ad opposing Pilip opens with photos of four&nbsp;lawmakers&nbsp;aligned with Trump&nbsp;—&nbsp;House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Co.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).&nbsp; 
Claim: MAGA Republicans hand-picked their candidate for Congress.&nbsp;The ad cites a Dec. 14 Newsday article quoting New York State and Nassau County Democratic chair Jay Jacobs saying Pilip is “aligned with MAGA Republicans.” 
Finding:&nbsp;Nassau County Republican chair Joseph Cairo and Queens chair Tony Nunziato chose Pilip.&nbsp; 
Claim: Pilip supports cuts to Social Security, forcing seniors to pay more and retire later, cuts to law enforcement jobs and deep cuts to veteran benefits. 
Finding: The ad bases those claims on four Republican-proposed budgets that failed in Congress. Pilip has not said if she would&nbsp;back those budgets if reintroduced. Pilip’s 10-Point Plan states: “Mazi will work to restrict spending, cut waste, eliminate unnecessary regulations, and create new jobs.”

USADS240112

Mazi Melesa Pilip, Tom Suozzi ad wars begin in 3rd District special election

Ad wars heat up in 3rd District special election

Republican congressional candidate Mazi Melesa Pilip filed financial disclosures this week showing she and her husband owed as much as $250,000 in federal income taxes as of last April, but her campaign said Thursday the debt has been paid. 
Pilip’s filing also&nbsp;shows that in 2023 she was paid $80,000 in salary as a county legislator&nbsp;and $50,000 from husband Adalbert Pilip’s New York Comprehensive Medical Care, where she has said she worked as operations director. 
She also made between $100,001 and $1 million in dividends from the practice, part of an&nbsp;investment portfolio that includes as much as $150,000 in bitcoin, the report shows. 
Pilip, a Nassau County legislator running in the Feb. 13 special election in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, on Wednesday filed her first required financial disclosure report with the House clerk’s office, covering 2022 and 2023. 
Her opponent, Democrat Tom Suozzi, <a href="https://www.newsday.com/preview/long-island/politics/suozzi-pilip-special-election-new-york-yifjue3m">filed his&nbsp;candidate disclosure covering 2023</a> late Friday, according to his campaign.&nbsp;The report was not available online as of Saturday afternoon, but the campaign provided Newsday with a copy. It listed&nbsp;no liabilities. In annual disclosures he filed as a House member from 2017 to 2022, Suozzi also reported no liabilities, records show. 
The income tax Pilip and her husband owed to the Internal Revenue Service was incurred last April&nbsp;and was valued at between $100,001 and $250,000, Pilip's disclosure&nbsp;shows. House financial disclosures only require assets and liabilities to be reported in broad ranges. 
Brian Devine, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement Thursday that Mazi and Adalbert Pilip file their taxes jointly and “are on a quarterly schedule for estimated tax payments.” 
He&nbsp;continued: “Their earnings were beyond anticipated amounts, requiring them to make additional payments, which they have done.” 
Devine provided Newsday a screenshot of an IRS website that shows Adalbert Pilip’s account status as of Thursday. It indicated a zero balance under “total amount owed.” The campaign did not indicate when the debt was paid. 
“Ms. Pilip's financial disclosure form was completed with an abundance of transparency,” Devine said. 
Brett Kappel, a Washington, D.C., attorney who specializes in campaign finance and ethics law, said the House Committee on Ethics does not require filers to report&nbsp;taxes owed to government entities including the IRS, but that they do sometimes come up on candidate filings. 
“While tax debts are not that unusual,” Kappel said, “it is rare to have one for such a large amount.” 
Adalbert&nbsp;Pilip and New York Comprehensive Medical Care are fighting a lawsuit over unpaid rent at a Bay Shore facility they once operated. Lawyers for the plaintiff are attempting to depose Mazi Pilip later this month, citing her employment there, but Adalbert Pilip’s attorneys are seeking to delay her testimony until after the special election. 
Attorneys for the physician have denied the allegations in court, and Nassau GOP spokesman Mike Deery has called the case “an ongoing lease dispute between a private business owned by Ms. Pilip’s husband and a landlord.” 
Suozzi's previous financial disclosures have shown significant&nbsp;private sector income and commissions, a wide range of stock transactions&nbsp;and investments in numerous companies, including some&nbsp;owned by state and Nassau County Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs, who nominated Suozzi to run in the special election. 
In 2021, the House Ethics Committee launched a probe into Suozzi’s alleged failure to properly report approximately 300 financial transactions. According to the federal STOCK Act, members of Congress must report stock trades within 45 days of the transaction.&nbsp; 
Suozzi said he reported those trades, but only in his year-end financial disclosure reports to the Clerk of the House. The Ethics Committee ultimately cleared Suozzi for the stock transactions.

PODISCLOSE240112

Disclosure report: Mazi Melesa Pilip, husband owed IRS up to $250,000 as of April

Mazi Melesa Pilip, husband owed IRS up to $250,000 as of April

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Vera Chinese

Mazi Melesa Pilip, the Republican Party's nominee to replace expelled GOP Rep. George Santos, has been subpoenaed to testify in an ongoing lawsuit accusing her husband and his medical practice of breaching a lease agreement. 
Pilip, a Nassau County legislator from Great Neck,&nbsp;faces former 3rd Congressional District Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, in the Feb. 13 special election to serve the remainder of Santos' congressional term.&nbsp; 
Lawyers representing Pilip and her husband, Dr. Adalbert Pilip, are asking that a deposition be scheduled after the&nbsp;election. But Steven Ferber, attorney for the plaintiff, Progressive Housing Corp., argues Pilip must be deposed before then because her availability will be limited if she wins.&nbsp; 
“If Donald Trump can appear in court and for depositions while he is campaigning for his Presidency, surely Ms. Pilip can spare a few hours to attend her deposition,” wrote Ferber, a senior partner at&nbsp;Islandia-based Davis &amp; Ferber LLP. 
In the lawsuit filed in State Supreme Court in Suffolk County, Adalbert Pilip and A.P. New York Comprehensive Medical Care are accused of breaching a multiyear lease for a facility in Bay Shore, failing to pay about $72,000 in rent due as of late 2020 and owing an additional $497,000 for the five remaining years of the lease through 2026, according to a 2021 amended complaint.&nbsp;Attorneys for the physician have denied the allegations in court. 
Mazi&nbsp;Pilip was not named in the complaint. 
&quot;This is nothing more than an ongoing lease dispute between a private business and a landlord,&quot; said Brian Devine, a spokesman for Pilip's campaign.&nbsp; 
A representative of Progressive Housing Corp. served Mazi Pilip, who was&nbsp;director of operations at the medical practice,&nbsp;the subpoena on Jan. 4, court records show. She&nbsp;left the position in 2021 to run for her legislative seat, Devine said. 
The Pilips’ attorney, William Birney, said Adalbert Pilip was available for deposition on Feb. 14. Birney, partner at the Garden City-based Rosenberg Calica &amp; Birney LLP, said Mazi Pilip could be deposed sometime after and accused the other side of putting political pressure on his client. 
“Plaintiffs counsel however has refused to consent to this arrangement in what appears to be an attempt to exert pressure upon the defendant and his wife who is presently actively engaged in her campaign as a candidate for election to the United States House of Representative in a special election to be held on February 13, 2024,” wrote Birney, who&nbsp;requested a conference to resolve the matter. 
Ferber, in a Jan. 9 court filing, denied his client was exerting pressure and insisted Mazi Pilip’s deposition be scheduled for Jan. 22. 
“I am appalled that a firm of this stature would even make an accusation of that nature against me,” Ferber wrote. “If I was looking to exert pressure, I would have returned the multiple phone calls from the media seeking a statement concerning the lawsuit and actions of the defendant Dr. Pilip and his wife.” 
Ferber said Mazi Pilip was subpoenaed after the firm learned she handled the day-to-day operations for the practice as reported in Newsday on Dec. 15. That was also when the firm learned Pilip was running for Congress. 
Ferber&nbsp;did not respond to a request for comment.

PODEPOSITION240112

Mazi Melesa Pilip, GOP's pick to replace George Santos, subpoenaed to testify in husband's lease dispute

Mazi Melesa Pilip subpoenaed to testify in husband's lease dispute

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Mazi Melesa Pilip, the Republican candidate in the 3rd Congressional District special election, cited border security, fighting bail reform&nbsp;and limiting&nbsp;high-density affordable housing&nbsp;as among her priorities, echoing issues that propelled the GOP on Long Island to key election victories in each of the last three years. 
The Pilip campaign on Thursday released her “10 point plan,” weeks after her Democratic opponent, former Rep. Tom Suozzi, released his own plan and criticized Pilip, a second-term Nassau County legislator, for a lack of specificity about her stances on issues. 
The election to fill&nbsp;the remainder of the 3rd District term of expelled Republican&nbsp;George Santos is Feb. 13. 
Pilip’s plan emphasizes themes Republicans have used to attack national and New York State Democrats on issues such as immigration, crime and the economy. She said her plan&nbsp;focuses&nbsp;on issues meant to “fix the damage done by Joe Biden and Tom Suozzi's failed policies.” 
Pilip said she would: 
<ul> 
 <li>Work to repeal a portion of a 2017 law backed by former GOP President Donald Trump that capped the amount of state and local taxes&nbsp;filers can deduct from federal income taxes. Suozzi made restoring the SALT deduction a priority of his three terms in Congress, and repeated it in his&nbsp;10-point plan released last month. The cap has survived numerous efforts by Suozzi and others to lift it, and experts are skeptical the&nbsp;cap will be addressed before it expires in 2025.</li> 
 <li>Oppose a national abortion ban or funding cuts for “reproductive rights and care.” Pilip, a registered Democrat, has not said if she also would oppose Democratic efforts to codify the national right to abortion that was lost when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision.</li> 
 <li>“Curb illegal immigration and the drug trade that comes with it, while simplifying the legal immigration process.” Pilip, 44, of Great Neck,&nbsp;is an Ethiopian Israeli immigrant who married her Ukrainian American husband in 2005 and became a citizen in 2009.</li> 
</ul> 
Pilip also stressed her opposition to Democratic state initiatives&nbsp;such as limits on crimes for which judges can set bail for defendants. She also signaled opposition to state efforts to prod municipalities into approving&nbsp;more&nbsp;affordable housing, vowing to “support local control of local communities.” The bail and housing issues have&nbsp;helped Republicans flip numerous local, state and federal offices in Nassau since 2021. 
Suozzi, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022 while also criticizing state bail reform, knocked Pilip's plan. 
“She says she supports law enforcement. I support law enforcement. She says she supports the state of Israel. I support the state of Israel,” Suozzi said at an event in Sea Cliff on Thursday.&nbsp;“The difference is I give detailed policy prescriptions.” 
With Tracy Tullis

POPILIP230112

Mazi Melesa Pilip priorities: Border security and limits on high-density housing

Mazi Pilip priorities: Border security and high-density housing limits

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WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) on Tuesday called for removal of a campaign ad promoting Democratic congressional candidate Tom Suozzi that features a clip of the two former lawmakers together, describing the commercial as “misleading.” 
King, who has endorsed Republican Nassau County Legis. Mazi Melesa Pilip in the 3rd Congressional District special election, said in a statement the television ad “sends the false message … that I support his bid for Congress.” 
King continued: “I am asking for the Suozzi campaign to immediately stop running these misleading ads.” 
The ad is sponsored by House Majority PAC, a political group focused on electing Democrats to the U.S. House. Under federal election law, the PAC must act independently and is not allowed to coordinate with the Suozzi campaign. 
The 15-second ad features a September 2019 clip of Suozzi and King appearing together for an ABC News interview when both were in office, talking about a bipartisan bill they co-sponsored that called for a ban on flavored e-cigarettes. As the clip runs, a narrator states: “Tom Suozzi brings common sense to Congress and delivers results, working with both parties to strengthen border security.” 
House Majority PAC Communications Director CJ Warnke in a statement said the committee would not take down the ad. Warnke said Suozzi and King “have a long bipartisan history of working together to strengthen border security and pass immigration reform, no matter what Mazi Pilip and her Conservative Party bosses say.” 
Pilip also has the Conservative Party nomination. 
Pilip said the ad should be taken down, calling it “a sad attempt to create a false impression of bipartisan support.” 
 Suozzi’s senior campaign adviser Kim Devlin said in a statement: “We don’t expect Peter King to endorse Tom Suozzi, but Tom and Rep. King have long worked together on bipartisan priorities including the State and Local Tax deduction (SALT), cleanup of the Bethpage plume, universal background checks on gun purchases, and an immigration ‘grand compromise,’ among other things.” 
Pilip campaign spokesman Brian Devine told Newsday that regardless of who is behind the ad, Suozzi&nbsp;still should call for its removal. 
“The House Majority PAC is trying to mislead voters and ride the coattails of Congressman King’s enduring popularity,” Devine said.

USKING240110

Former Rep. Pete King decries 'misleading' ad featuring him with Tom Suozzi 

Pete King decries 'misleading' ad featuring him with Tom Suozzi

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Democrat Tom Suozzi is in the national spotlight as he vies with Republican candidate&nbsp;Mazi Melesa Pilip in the Feb. 13 special election to replace expelled former Rep. George Santos, a Republican who fabricated much of his resume as he campaigned for Congress in 2022. 
Both Suozzi and Pilip are running on their records in public office and their personal back stories. 
Suozzi, 61, of Glen Cove, represented the 3rd District from 2017 until 2023. He served as Nassau County executive from 2002 until 2010 and as mayor&nbsp;of the City of Glen Cove from 1994 until 2002. 
In independent vetting of both Suozzi and Pilip, Newsday reporters reviewed their resumes, checked with the employers and colleges they cited&nbsp;and examined numerous public records to confirm many of the details they have shared publicly. 
Here's what we know, and can confirm, about Suozzi: 
&nbsp; 
<h2>Education</h2> 
Suozzi graduated from Boston College in 1984 with a degree in accounting from the Carroll School of Management, a spokesman&nbsp;for Boston College confirmed to Newsday. He graduated from Fordham University School of Law in 1989, according to a Fordham spokesman. He graduated from Chaminade High School in Mineola in 1980, a school spokesman&nbsp;said. 
<h2>Employment</h2> 
Suozzi worked for Arthur Andersen &amp; Co. from 1984 to 1986, according to his LinkedIn page. The accounting firm closed in 2002. In 1989, Suozzi began a one-year clerkship for Thomas Platt, a U.S. District judge in&nbsp;the Eastern District of New York, a court&nbsp;spokesman confirmed. He worked at the law firm Shearman &amp; Sterling LLP from 1990 until 1993, according to a firm representative. 
Suozzi was defeated by Republican Edward Mangano in the 2009&nbsp;Nassau County executive's race. Afterward, Suozzi worked as a senior adviser for&nbsp;Lazard, the investment and asset management&nbsp;firm, according to a news release the company sent out in April 2010. In an email, a company spokeswoman confirmed Suozzi's employment from 2010 to 2012. 
Suozzi also was&nbsp;of counsel at&nbsp;Harris Beach, a Uniondale law firm,&nbsp;from 2010 until 2016, Thomas Garry, the firm's managing partner and vice chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Committee confirmed.&nbsp;Suozzi joined Actum LLP&nbsp;global consulting firm&nbsp;as a co-chairman in 2023. In a news release announcing his hiring, the firm said&nbsp;Suozzi brought “a wealth of experience and a deep network to Actum, which will help guide the company’s global client base.” Suozzi resigned from Actum after announcing his campaign for Congress in&nbsp;October. 
<h2>Certifications</h2> 
Suozzi is “trained as a CPA,” according to his campaign website. He was licensed as a certified public accountant in 1987, but his registration expired in 2012, according to the New York State Education Department, which maintains professional licensure records. Suozzi is&nbsp;registered to practice law, state records show. He was admitted to the New York State bar in April 1990 in the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department. 
<h2>Financial disclosures</h2> 
In Suozzi's most recent filings with the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, he listed ownership stakes&nbsp;in several companies and real estate ventures. 
He has a 10% interest in HCDC Holdings LLC, an&nbsp;East Hampton&nbsp;day camp run by Jay&nbsp;Jacobs, the Nassau and state Democratic chairman who nominated Suozzi to run in the 3rd District special election.&nbsp;Suozzi&nbsp;also holds a 3%&nbsp;interest&nbsp;in Southampton&nbsp;Country Day Camp LLC, another of Jacobs' camps. 
Suozzi holds a 6% stake in Iselin Holdings LLC, a rental property in West Orange, New Jersey.&nbsp;He has&nbsp;a 1% interest in SGC Commercial II LLC,&nbsp;a “real estate development project” in Sarasota, Florida, his filing said. 
In 2021, Jacobs' HCDC received a Paycheck Protection Program loan of approximately $350,000 that was&nbsp;later forgiven, according to the U.S. government’s pandemic oversight website. Suozzi was part of a bipartisan coalition in Congress that supported hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to allow businesses to continue&nbsp;paying employees during COVID-19 shutdowns. He had&nbsp;no role in approving individual applications. 
<h2>Ethics</h2> 
In 2021, the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Suozzi’s alleged failure to properly report approximately 300 financial transactions.&nbsp;According to the federal&nbsp;STOCK Act, members of Congress must report stock trades within 45 days of the transaction. The trades must be reported in a filing known as a “Periodic Transaction Report.” 
Suozzi said he reported those trades, but only in&nbsp;his year-end financial disclosure reports to the Clerk of the House. 
After a yearlong investigation, the&nbsp;House Ethics committee cleared Suozzi and two other members of Congress, Republicans Pat Fallon and&nbsp;Chris Jacob, for such stock&nbsp;transactions. 
Suozzi&nbsp;said the errors stemmed&nbsp;from a misunderstanding about&nbsp;what type of trades had to be reported immediately. 
Those&nbsp;trades, he said, were made at the sole discretion of his broker. 
Suozzi said he did not know broker-directed transactions had to be included in the periodic filings. He said he thought they could be included in the year-end reports. The committee said there was no evidence the omissions were “knowing or willful.” 
Suozzi in his interview with House Ethics Committee members said: “I have always prided myself on the fact that I have been very, very careful about following the rules and making sure I did things properly,” according to a transcript published by the committee.&nbsp; 
The National Republican Congressional Committee, which works to elect&nbsp;Republicans to the House and&nbsp;backs Pilip, criticized Suozzi over another issue in an online memo in December&nbsp;titled “Tom Suozzi is not Good for Long Island.” In one section, headlined “Tom Suozzi is all in … For Tom Suozzi,” the NRCC referred&nbsp;to his use of campaign funds to pay rent for his congressional office in space he owns in Glen Cove. 
Suozzi owns the rental space through&nbsp;Ruvo Realty LLC, and paid the company $37,860 in rent for his office suite&nbsp;at 3 School St. in Glen Cove, Federal Election Commission&nbsp;records show. Suozzi made payments to Ruvo in 2020 and 2021, but has made none since, according to FEC filings. 
Suozzi adviser Kim Devlin said the campaign had received a legal opinion from an ethics attorney&nbsp;who&nbsp;handles compliance issues. 
&quot;This was asked and answered three years ago,&quot; Devlin said. &quot;It was a straightforward transaction pre-approved by ethics attorneys and fully&nbsp;disclosed.&nbsp;The campaign office lease was below fair market value, fully compliant, and was discontinued in 2021.&quot; 
As mayor of Glen Cove, Suozzi returned a Land Rover the local dealership had rented for the mayor's office for $1 per year. 
In 1996, a local Land Rover dealership rented to the city a Portofino Land Rover Discovery for the mayor's use, according to stories in Newsday's archives.&nbsp;The dealership billed the city $1 per year for the vehicle, which was valued at more than $35,000. 
Suozzi said at the time: “I naively thought there could be no governmental or political downside. It would be bad for my reputation and for the city's reputation to keep the car, and that would be intolerable.” 
Suozzi ended up returning the car, citing a possible conflict of interest. The dealership’s landlord, Luyster Motors, had eight property tax grievances pending before the City of Glen Cove. Joseph A. Suozzi, Tom’s father, worked at the law firm that handled&nbsp;the tax protest. 
<h2>Lawsuits</h2> 
Suozzi is named as a defendant, along with other officials, in multiple federal and state lawsuits against Nassau County or members of Congress. They range from prisoners alleging misconduct at the county jail to improper dismissals, according to the county's Civil Service statutes. It is common for elected officials to be named in lawsuits against the municipalities they lead. 
<h2>Family</h2> 
Suozzi is married to Helene Wrotniak&nbsp;Suozzi. They have three children. 
With Paul LaRocco

Tom Suozzi resume: A close look at his record

Complete coverage: 3rd Congressional District race

Complete coverage: 3rd Congressional District race

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