Republican local legislator Pilip to face ex-congressman Suozzi to replace Santos in special election

Republicans in New York designated Mazi Melesa Pilip, a local legislator in Nassau County, to run to replace expelled representative George Santos (R-N.Y.) in Congress during a special election next year, setting the stage for a high-profile race that could be consequential in helping determine the party balance of the House.

Pilip will face off against former congressman Thomas Suozzi (D), whom New York Democrats selected this month to be the party’s nominee.
Suozzi — who represented New York’s 3rd District in the House before Santos and left the seat to run an unsuccessful campaign for New York governor — had already said he would run for a full term in his old seat in November 2024.

A relative political newcomer, Pilip was first elected to her position on the Nassau County Legislature in 2021. She has said her family was evacuated to Israel from her home country of Ethiopia in 1991 as part of Operation Solomon, a secret 36-hour airlift to transport about 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. She served as a paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces and immigrated to the United States in 2005.

Fantine said:

So in a heavily Jewish district (where I used to live) Republicans think they will support her just because she's Jewish? My Jewish friends are more discerning than that, and most are not politically conservative.

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Ha, that reminds me that Santos was "Jew-ish". Obviously, he had no trouble winning.

She does seem like a relative unknown to go up against someone who actually held that seat not that long ago. The GOP doesn't have any House seats to spare; she does have a neat history, but is she their best candidate?