Former Rep. George Santos on Dec. 01, 2023. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

By Jacob Kornbluh February 8, 2024

Ousted Congressman George Santos said he will not be voting in the special election for his seat, citing a personal vendetta against the local Republicans, but has recommended Mazi Melesa Pilip, who is running as a Republican, as his replacement over former Congressman Tom Suozzi, a Democrat. 

“What led to this special election had to do with the wounds that are still very fresh on me,” Santos said in an interview. “So I’m jaded and I have chosen to abstain from voting. I have reserved that right after everything I have been through.”

Santos was expelled from Congress in December for alleged fraud and campaign finance violations, as well as the multitude of lies he told — including fabrications about his grandparents fleeing anti-Jewish persecution during World War II. All five of the Republican freshmen from New York voted for his expulsion. Pilip, an Ethiopian-Israeli Orthodox county legislator, also expressed her support for his ouster.

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In an interview with CNN aired on Sunday, Santos said his refusal to participate in the election was because Pilip is still a registered Democrat, despite previously running for office twice on the Republican ticket. (Pilip said she would change her party affiliation after the election.) But on Thursday, he changed his tone, insisting that it was for personal reasons. 

Santos said in the interview that he has recommended voting for Pilip, predicting a five-to-seven-point victory “at the bare minimum.” He also claimed that he’d received “a couple hundred inboxes and pictures of people telling me, ‘I just wrote you in.’” But his response has been: “You just blew your vote in the garbage.”

“I say, ‘If you are sane, you’ll vote for Mazi. If you’re insane, you’ll go out and vote for Suozzi,’” Santos said. “That’s how I’m phrasing it.”

A poll published on Thursday showed the race a dead heat. The Newsday/Siena Research poll of 694 likely voters gives Suozzi a four-point lead over Pilip — 48-44% — with a 4.2% margin of error. Seven percent are still undecided. Democrats have a healthy 13.7% lead in early voting, according to TargetSmart’s analysis. However, Republicans are optimistic about their chances, citing strong turnout in areas such as Pilip’s hometown of Great Neck, and anticipate their base, which tends to favor in-person voting on Election Day, will make up ground.

Suozzi and Pilip will have their only televised debate Thursday night.

The outcome of this swing district contest, where at least 13% of the electorate is Jewish, could help determine whether Republicans maintain their House majority. Both candidates are claiming to be a better friend to Israel. Santos said Israel “has become the second biggest issue in the district” after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and that the outcome will show where the American people stand on Israel.

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