Democrats Flood New York’s Third District With Ads in Bid To Flip Santos’s Former Seat

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is flooding the zone with ads in a bid to win the February special election for the seat left vacant by Congressman George Santos and potentially parlay a victory into greater success in the battle for the New York suburbs.After Mr. Santos was expelled from Congress, Democrats wasted no time in nominating Congressman Tom Suozzi, who held the seat before Mr. Santos, to be his replacement. Republicans chose to nominate an Israeli Defense Forces veteran, Mazi Pilip, for the seat.So far, Democrat-aligned committees have spent millions of dollars on the special election in New York’s Third Congressional District, with the DCCC announcing a seven-figure ad buy and the House Majority PAC announcing a separate $5.2 million ad buy in the district.Republicans backing Ms. Pilip have spent $947,000, according to a report by the political spending watchdog AdImpact.In one ad placed by the DCCC, the speaker paints Ms. Pilip as a “handpicked” candidate for the “MAGA Republican movement,” saying that she would “join MAGA Republicans to pass an agenda that would hurt Nassau County and Queens.”“Mazi Pilip was intentionally handpicked by MAGA extremists because they can count on her to be a rubber stamp for their dangerous agenda,” a DCCC spokeswoman, Ellie Dougherty, said in a statement. “Pilip continues to show that her loyalty is to the MAGA extremists in her Party.”Ms. Pilip is running a more low-profile campaign in other ways as well. She has only agreed to one debate before the election, whereas Mr. Suozzi has agreed to four.While Mr. Suozzi has received millions of dollars in support from the national party, the NRCC has attempted to focus the race in New York’s Third on immigration.“Tom Suozzi and Joe Biden have caused the migrant crisis, inflation, and increased gas prices. Joe Biden deserves Tom Suozzi, but voters do not,” an NRCC spokeswoman, Savannah Viar, said in a statement.A political scientist at John Jay College, Susan Kang, tells the Sun that “heavy spending can make a big difference because, in special elections, turnout can be very low.”“If Democrats can turn out more of their voters in the Third District than Republicans, then they can win,” Ms. Kang says. “The district went 10 percent-plus for Biden in 2020 and Suozzi is a known figure in the area.”Ms. Kang pointed to the 2017 special election in which Democrats flipped New York’s Ninth Assembly District at Long Island with an aggressive campaign before Republicans took it back in the general election.“I do think more campaigning on the ground, especially field, would be a better use of the money than flooding the district with ads since canvassing can be targeted towards registered Democrats and campaigns can make sure that likely voters know about the election,” Ms. Kang says.In 2024, Democrats will be hoping to take back seats that Republicans won in the 2022 midterms. Republicans gained four seats in New York in 2022 despite a historically bad midterm performance in almost every other part of the country.Should Democrats deliver a strong showing in the special election, they may be able to parlay that into more success in New York City’s suburbs in 2024.Ms. Kang, though, says Democrats “have a lot of work to do to energize their base, and merely painting opponents as MAGA candidates isn’t effective,” adding: “They need to sell a positive vision, too.”Ms. Pilip’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Sun.

Democrats Flood New York’s Third District With Ads in Bid To Flip Santos’s Former Seat

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