The Republican candidate for New York’s vacated 3rd Congressional District, Mazi Melesa Pilip, seemed locked in a tight race with former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi ahead of Tuesday’s special election, but she came up short against the longtime Democrat politician.
“She’s a unique candidate,” New York-based Republican election attorney Joseph Burns said of Pilip in an interview with Fox News Digital. “She certainly hasn’t been in the public eye as long as Tom Suozzi… he’s undoubtedly a well-known commodity.”
Burns’ comments came as the battle between Pilip and Suozzi reached its final day Tuesday, ending what has been a closely contested race. Polls both from internal and public sources had shown almost a dead heat throughout, with the upstart Pilip looking to take down a candidate with deep roots in the district.
At the end of a primary day that saw snow piling up on streets and sidewalks, Democrat voters turned out to hand Suozzi, the long-time New York and DC political fixture, a decisive win.
However, this may not be the last time that voters hear from the newcomer Pilips.
The race may already be on for the next general election for NY-3. With a campaign apparatus up and running, Pilip could quickly transition to the normally scheduled congressional elections in November for a rematch with Suozzi but with the possible added dynamic of former President Trump at the top of the ticket.
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Pilip’s history in the suburban New York City district is much shorter than Suozzi’s with her election to the Nassua County Legislature in 2021. But Pilip didn’t even live in the U.S. until 2005, immigrating to her new home after being born in Ethiopia and fleeing with her family at age 12 to Israel, where she eventually served with the Israeli Defense Forces.
The GOP candidate also originally registered as a Democrat in 2012, a party affiliation that has yet to change despite her runs for office as a Republican, according to a report from Politico last year.
Pilip’s rise into elected office was won on a platform opposing new taxes and increasing police patrols, according to a report from Forbes, while the candidate has also become more outspoken about opposing antisemitism since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October of last year.
The suburban New York district Pilip was looking to represent was left vacant by former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., who was expelled from Congress last year amid multiple controversies that included being indicted on federal charges over allegations he defrauded donors.
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Despite a recent national trend that has seen suburban voters inch closer to Democrats, the Long Island suburbs have voted solidly Republican in elections over the last three years. The familiar Suozzi was able to buck the trend.
“In this day and age, it can work against you, being a politician who has been in public office and in the public eye for as long as [Suozzi] has,” Burns said. “If you’re seeing what’s going on, whether it’s the spike in crime, whether it’s with the migrant crisis, whether it’s run-of-the-mill Albany dysfunction, to some degree it is not a surprise that voters would want something different.”
Pilip sought to capitalize on the issues pushing some New York voters away from Democrats, telling Fox News in an interview Monday that Democrats such as Suozzi are responsible for both crime and the migrant crisis in the district.
“The migrant crisis… it’s a big issue for the 3rd Congressional District,” Pilip said. “When you are weak on crime, when you don’t support law enforcement, and then you have wide open borders, you are bringing unvetted immigrants. This is a formula that we are seeing, a perfect formula for all these issues.”
“You know the difference between me and you?” she said. “You are a talker. I am the person who will deliver.”
Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
