Former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi announced Tuesday that he is running for his old eastern Queens and Nassau County congressional seat in an attempt to oust his controversial Republican successor George Santos.
Suozzi is jumping into a crowded primary, with at least six Democrats vying to take Santos down.
The one-time rep gave up his 3rd Congressional District seat last year to unsuccessfully run for governor, where he came in a distant third in the Democratic primary behind Gov. Kathy Hochul and city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. He garnered just 12% of the vote on election night in June 2022.
The seat was then captured by Republican George Santos, who was found shortly after his November victory to have fabricated large swaths of his personal backstory, which became national news. There were calls for his ouster on both sides of the aisle that he has so far ignored.
Suozzi, in a statement announcing his run, said his campaign will buck the “absurdity” of Santos remaining in Congress and bring some “sanity and reason” back to Capitol Hill.
“Today I’m filing a committee to run for Congress in November 2024,” Suozzi said. “The madness in Washington, D.C., and the absurdity of George Santos remaining in the United States Congress is obvious to everyone.”
“You know me. I’ve never sat on the sidelines,” he continued. “From the cost-of-living to immigration, crime, climate change, combating terrorism in the Middle East and globally, to simply helping people, we need more common sense and compassion and less chaos and senseless fighting.”
Suozzi will likely be the most recognizable name in a packed field of Democrats looking to unseat Santos. The candidates who have declared so far include Josh Lafazan — who previously ran for the seat in 2022—former state Sen. Anna Kaplan, activist Zak Malamed, legal studies professor William Murphy and former City Council candidate Steve Behar, among others.
Republicans have also lined up to take a shot at Santos, with seven declared challengers seeking to replace him as the seat’s GOP representative.
Santos became persona non grata with both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill after his laundry list of fabrications were uncovered. His false claims included that he had worked for both Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, graduated from Baruch college and owned an expansive real estate portfolio.
He is currently under a House Ethics Committee investigation and was hit with a 13-count indictment in May that included charges of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and lying to the House of Representatives.
Soon after Suozzi announced his campaign on Tuesday, Kaplan was quick to come out swinging in a statement that took aim at the former rep for letting the seat fall into Republican hands.
“After almost a year of this district having embarrassing representation, Tom Suozzi thinks voters on Long Island have forgotten that he abandoned us to George Santos,” Kaplan said.
Seasoned political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said that while Suozzi has held the seat before and has a strong fundraising ability, his bid could be hurt by his run for governor. In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Suozzi used many of the conservative talking points around crime that Republican Lee Zeldin deployed against Hochul in last year’s general election, which she only narrowly won.
“Here’s a guy who can claim responsibility, to some extent, for helping Governor Hochul nearly lose the race in 2022,” Sheinkopf said. “It’s hard to imagine how he fits in the Democratic Party … He may have a strong shot, but people have to remember who he is, he nearly cost Democrats the governor’s race in 2022 by splitting the party up.”
