Voters in suburban New York on Tuesday picked a Democrat to replace expelled Republican US representative George Santos, US networks projected, after US President Joe Biden’s party poured cash into TV advertisements to flip the seat in an election year.
CNN and NBC News both called the race in favor of Tom Suozzi, forecasting that he had defeated Republican Mazi Pilip in the election, which was marked by a heavy snowstorm across the district.
Suozzi, a veteran politician who previously held the seat and quit to unsuccessfully run for New York state governor, is to serve out the remaining 11 months of the scandal-plagued Santos’ term in the US House of Representatives.
Photo: AFP
The win chips away at the Republicans’ narrow majority in the lower chamber of the US Congress.
“Thank God,” Suozzi said in a victory speech in Woodbury after the race was called.
A crowd of supporters began chanting his name as protesters holding Palestinian flags briefly stormed the stage, shouting “genocide.”
“Despite all the lies ... about Tom Suozzi being the godfather of the migrant crisis ... despite the dirty tricks ... we won,” he said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said Suozzi’s victory “was good news for New York.”
Biden, facing an uphill battle to get aid for key allies Ukraine and Israel approved in the Republican-led House, called to congratulate Suozzi on his win on Tuesday night, the White House said.
Pilip conceded during a speech in East Meadow.
“We are fighters, I called my opponent and congratulated him,” she said.
Pre-election polling had showed that the race was tight, with Democrats reportedly spending US$14 million on advertising and the Republicans US$8 million.
Aggressive attack advertisements were used by both sides, with Republicans seeking to paint Suozzi as soft on illegal immigration, while Democrats characterized Pilip as against abortion rights.
One attack ad showed archive footage of Suozzi apparently boasting that he fought to keep immigration enforcement officers out of Nassau County, where a large part of the congressional district is located, when he was the area’s top elected official.
Anti-Pilip ads suggested she would seek a nationwide ban on abortions.
Santos became only the third person to be ejected as a US lawmaker since the Civil War, in a rebuke previously reserved for traitors and convicted criminals.
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