In a disappointing outcome for Republicans, another House seat has flipped to the Democrats as former Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Tom Suozzi has been declared the winner over Nassau County legislator Mazi Pilip in Tuesday’s special election for New York’s Third Congressional District.
Decision Desk HQ projects Tom Suozzi wins the special election for New York’s 3rd congressional district.#DecisionMade: 9:58pm ET
Follow more results here: https://t.co/o9p36jtIuF pic.twitter.com/pFZGG51Cek
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) February 14, 2024
Suozzi reclaims the seat he left to run for governor in 2022. After losing to Suozzi in 2020, Republican George Santos won the seat by seven-and-a-half points over Democrat Robert Zimmerman in 2022.
Santos’ tenure was controversial, from revelations regarding his “embellished” resume to his multiple federal indictments, which ultimately led to his expulsion from Congress in December.
There was some thought that Pilip, an Orthodox-Jewish, Ethiopian-Israeli mother of seven, who’s also a former IDF paratrooper, might be able to pull off a win, particularly with Nassau County representing 80 percent of the district.
But polls shortly before the special election showed Suozzi with a four-point lead, and a heavy snowstorm on election day undoubtedly held turnout down, which did Pilip no favors, given the tendency of Republicans to eschew early voting.
With 73 percent of the vote reported as of this writing, Suozzi boasts a 10-plus-point lead, and it appears he will be returning to D.C.
