Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi opened his campaign headquarters in Great Neck, the hometown of his Republican opponent for the 3rd Congressional District, Nassau County Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip (R-Great Neck).
Suozzi and Pilip are both vying for the seat formerly held by George Santos, who was expelled from Congress last year. The special election will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Among the hundreds of supporters were state and Nassau County Democratic Committee Chairman Jay Jacobs, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng of Queens, and North Hempstead Council Members Mariann Dalimonte and Christine Liu. Also in attendance was former North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman and former North Hempstead Council Member Veronica Lurvey, among others.
Suozzi, of Glen Cove, represented the 3rd Congressional District from 2016 to 2022 and did not seek re-election to make what became a failed gubernatorial run in 2022.
Jacobs told the New York Post that Suozzi, who has made many appearances throughout the North Shore recently, and his campaign are targeting Republican areas in the district.
“Suozzi is taking his campaign to the Republican heartland,” Jacobs said to the Post. “It’s going to bear fruit.”
Blank Slate Media earlier this month reported that Great Neck has shifted from being a stronghold for Democrats to Republicans, according to unofficial data from the Nassau County Board of Elections. Republican Supervisor Jennifer DeSena defeated Kaiman, of Great Neck, with help from securing 60% of the 11,155 total votes in Great Neck for a 2,216 vote advantage.
Within Great Neck, DeSena won the Villages of Great Neck, Great Neck Estates and Kings while Kaiman won Great Neck Plaza, Lake Success and Russell Gardens.
Pilip herself was the first Republican to represent the county’s 10th Legislative District since its inception in 1995, becoming the only candidate to flip a district during her first campaign in 2021.
Suozzi, who previously served as Nassau County executive, said to his supporters he is a known name in the area who will work with both sides of the aisle.
“Not everybody loves to hear this, but the people of Nassau and Queens know that I will work with anyone, conservatives, progressives, centrists, Republicans and Democrats, who like me, will work to find common ground and get something done,” Suozzi said, according to the Post.
Pilip’s campaign said that Suozzi is an extremist whose efforts to win Great Neck voters will not work.
“Tom Suozzi can try to pander to voters in Great Neck by opening a headquarters there, but families in Great Neck won’t forget that he joined AOC’s Squad, which embraces an antisemitic and anti-Israel agenda,” Brian Devine, spokesman for the Pilip campaign, said in a statement to Blank Slate Media. “Tom Suozzi’s extremism is out-of-touch with Great Neck and the entire 3rd Congressional District.
During his three terms in Congress, however, Suozzi was known as a middle roader and was vice chairman of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
Tom is the better choice. He has a solid track record as a Congressman where he delivered needed services to his constituents. We know where he stands on the environment, choice, preserving Social Security and Medicare. We have only some talking points from Mazi who refuses to actively debate issues. Our choice is clear in this election.
Tom is the ONLY choice. Mazi has absolutely NO qualifications for the office: she’s done nothing of significance as a county legislator and some of her colleagues there are on record as saying she appears clueless about what is going on during their sessions. We cannot afford someone who can’t even navigate her current position. Required military service does not a Congresswoman make, period.
The reference to “Tom Suozzi’s extremism” really made me laugh. Suozzi is about as far from an extremist as you can get. The Republicans are just recycling the same old attacks against any Democrat running for office, attempting to portray him as a “member of the Squad” and “anti-Israel” – again, these are truly laughable tropes that are easily debunked by a quick look at the facts. The problem is, Pilip’s “base” doesn’t care about the facts, nor do they care about the issues that affect the constituents of NY03. All they care about is power for themselves, and that is no laughing matter. Their accusations of “extremism” are pure projection, for they are the party of Trump, and he has shown us the extremist agenda he plans to pursue if elected.
The people of NY03 need a representative who cares about all of us, and that person is Tom Suozzi. He has a solid record of public service and he has consistently delivered results this district in the past. It’s time to send him back to Congress and restore sanity to the House.