Republicans’ slim lead in the House got a little slimmer last night with the election of Tom Suozzi to the seat vacated by George Santos. Note that most polls and punditry had predicted a close election, but with 93 percent of votes counted Suozzi is ahead 53.9 percent to 46.1 percent. A comfortable lead. Once again, the Democrat “overperformed.”
Some writers at Politico said,
Unlike most other suburbs across the country, Long Island and the outer boroughs of New York City have raced to the right since former President Donald Trump left office. Between 2021 and 2023, Republicans won the Island’s four congressional seats and almost every major local office, and the GOP gubernatorial nominee won both of Long Island’s counties by double digits in 2022.
Aaron Blake at WaPo says that Republicans tried to make the election about immigration, which I would have thought would have worked in a district that is mostly in Long Island. But it didn’t.
Republicans turned to the issue early and often, pointing to a 2022 Suozzi comment about having “kicked ICE out of Nassau County” as county executive.
But Suozzi, who left Congress to run as a more moderate primary alternative in 2022 to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), emphasized his pragmatism on the issue, calling for tougher border security and supporting the bipartisan Senate deal that Republicans ultimatelyT torpedoed last week. Pilip echoed GOP attacks on the bill, saying that “it simply puts into law the invasion currently happening at our southern border.”
The New York Times, of course, is tripping all over itself explaining why we can’t read anything about other elections into this one. The snowstorm probably discouraged a lot of same-day voters, who are more likely to be Republican. (However, I suspect anyone who really wanted to get to a polling place could have.) I have read Democrats outspent Republicans on this race by quite a bit (but why was that true? Is the GOP short on cash?). The Republican candidate, Mazi Pilip, was inexperienced at campaigns and said weird things.
Suozzi is expected to be sworn in as a member of the House today, if he hasn’t been already. And the chance that would happen is why Mike Johnson ran the second bogus impeachment vote on Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary. And as you no doubt heard, this time it passed by one vote. And this is just political theater being performed to please Donald Trump and the MAGAts. And it could backfire.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has drafted plans to release thousands of immigrants and slash its capacity to hold detainees after the failure of a Senate border bill that would have erased a $700 million budget shortfall, according to four officials at ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.
The bipartisan border bill that Republican lawmakers opposed last week would have provided $6 billion in supplemental funding for ICE enforcement operations. The bill’s demise has led ICE officials to begin circulating an internal proposal to save money by releasing thousands of detainees and cutting detention levels from 38,000 beds to 22,000 — the opposite of the enforcement increases Republicans say they want.
Democrats, for a change, need to get their act together and stay on a clear, simple, consistent message that this could happen and it’s Republicans’ fault.
"The New York Times, of course, is tripping all over itself explaining why we can’t read anything about other elections into this one"
I'm pretty sure Pilip lost because she is a loon so folks in the middle would be hesitant. Add to that that she is a woman of color and was at one point a registared democrat so there goes the fever swamp magat support. She lost because she was an inferior choice. I watched Suozzi's acceptance speech I thought it was very good, he seems like a pretty competent middle of the road moderate? I did think it was kind of weird that he didn't thank Gov. Hochul by name or Biden or Hakeem Jeffries. I read he had some beef with the gov. before but she publicly endorsed him? Anyway it was a good night for America, one less low life magat with their hands on the levers of power! I'll bet Matt (under age girls) Gaetz is happy, the slimmer margin means he's unlikely to get kicked out no matter what the upcoming ethics report reveals!
Yeah. I too listened to the acceptance speech and thought it was good. I've found a transcript (linked below). It's not the best way to get at it but I don't have time to search around for a video that doesn't skip the first three minutes. So take a look at the transcript linked and scroll down to the 3:00 mark to start reading. I think the guy makes a good point about how the Dems should be approach the Nov. election campaigns.
To piggy-back a little, I offer this observation: I haven't seen or heard a single GOP congress-critter or candidate EVER say "I will be glad to work with Dems in Congress to get some of our Republican goals met." Never. Never. We should beat them over the head with that in ad after ad after ad. They don't want to do anything for Americans.
https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/tom-suozzi-victory-speech-after-winning-ny-03-special-election-transcript
(hope that works) (maybe copy/paste if you have to…)
Mazi "Da Nazi"* Pilip, during a televised debate between her and Suozzi that I once saw a clip from, said she was AGAINST abortion, but FOR choice.
FTW?!?!?!?
"That word: 'choice.' I do not think that word means what you think it means…"
Talk about trying too hard to straddle the middle position! YEEESH!!!
Frankly, IMO, I think the only thing she brought to this particular dance, was incoherence.
Not because of her rather obvious accent, but because of the incongruousness of her positions. Like on abortion. Ditto, the recently rejected immigration bill.
Yesterday's win is important because it shows that Democrats are really getting better at appealing to the suburbs.
Suozzi focused on two issues: Choice, and immigration.
Both of those issues tie the RepubliKKKLANS in knots. Post Dodd, and the electoral backlash from it, and post the RepubliKKKLAN party's recent objection(s) to Lankford's immigration bill, they look to hide when those two subjects are brought up in campaigns.
Interestingly (at least to me – YMMV), regarding this win, and speaking of appealing to the suburbs, Levittown, in Nassau County, NY (the county that encompassed about 80% of this district), was arguably the first real "suburb" in the world!
At least as we've used the term "suburb" since Levitt & Son's, Inc., started construction of Levittown on Long Island, post WW II.
The GI Bill's generous housing benefits for returning veterans, was the impetus for the construction of Levittown-like suburbs all around the USA.
And then: THE WORLD!
So, in other words, the Democrats just won "The Daddy Of All Suburbs!"
GO JOE!!!!!
*Obviously, I'm being more than a bit hyperbolic here!
maha, did my comment "get eated by your nasty, old "Twit Filter?"
"Got etted?"
Whatevs…