Democrat Tom Suozzi wins N.Y. congressional race in Santos’ former district

Democrat Tom Suozzi has won the special election in the 3rd Congressional District in New York, the Associated Press projects.

According to the AP, with approximately 85% of the expected vote tallied in Queens as of 11:50 p.m. Tuesday, Suozzi had 53.9% of the vote, while Republican Mazi Pilip had 46.1% of the vote.

“Despite all the attack, despite all the lies about Tom Suozzi and the Squad, about Tom Suozzi being the godfather of the migrant crisis, about ‘sanctuary Suozzi,’ despite the dirty tricks, despite the vaunted Nassau County Republican machine, we won,” Suozzi said during his victory speech Tuesday night.

The district covers the neighborhoods of Little Neck, Whitestone, Glen Oaks, Floral Park and Queens Village in Queens, as well as large stretches of Long Island’s Nassau County.

Suozzi previously held the congressional seat for three terms. He gave up his seat to pursue an unsuccessful run for governor.

Throughout his campaign in a district that flipped from Democratic to Republican representation in November 2022, Suozzi tried to convince voters that he’s a Democrat who is not afraid to work with all parties.

The special election was called to replace George Santos, who became the sixth House member to be ousted from Congress in U.S. history.

Santos, who has pleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges, was only in office for 11 months.

With days leading up to Election Day, polls showed it was a tight race, with Suozzi slightly in the lead.

“We, you, won this race,” he said, “because we addressed the issues and we found a way to bind our divisions.”

Pro-Palestine protesters interrupted Suozzi toward the beginning of his speech. The protesters accused Suozzi, a staunch supporter of Israel, of “supporting genocide,” and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Later in his remarks, Suozzi referenced the protest, saying there are divisions in the country where people can only yell and scream at each other, and that that “is not the answer to the problems we face in our country.”

“The answer is to try and bring people of goodwill together to try and find that common ground,” he continued.

Pilip, a Nassau County legislator, conceded the election results before Suozzi spoke.

“We all [worked] so hard every single day in the last eight weeks and we did a great job,” Pilip said. “Yes, we lost, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to end here.”