Suozzi aims for congressional return in Santos succession strategy
GREAT NECK, New York — Tom Suozzi: A Political Rollercoaster
Lots of candidates and officeholders have their ups and downs in politics. But few can point to as many elective highs and lows as former New York Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi.
Suozzi was already running to reclaim his old Long Island-based House seat from fabulist Rep. George Santos (R-NY) when the House Ethics Committee spurred a renewed expulsion effort. The Nov. 17 House floor motion by Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS), which could be taken up at any time the chamber is in session, follows the ethics panel’s report showing evidence the freshman lawmaker engaged in unlawful conduct that is “beneath the dignity” of Congress.
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Guest, in filing the motion, cited “substantial evidence” from the ethics investigation that Santos had knowingly violated the law while running for Congress last year and misused campaign funds for personal use. Although the report did not recommend specific action be taken against Santos, Guest and several other Ethics Committee members said it rose to the level of expulsion. Each has said individually they’ll vote to expel Santos.
The 56-page report detailed the findings of its monthlong investigation into Santos, 35. The report concluded he had knowingly filed false or incomplete reports to the Federal Election Commission, used campaign funds for personal purposes, and “engaged in knowing and willful violations” in relation to the Ethics in Government Act.
Santos has maintained his innocence even after the report was released, decrying the investigation as politically motivated. Two 2023 federal indictments allege 23 fraud-related charges against Santos, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
However, the first-term incumbent said he would not run for reelection next year. Facing a jump-or-be-pushed situation, and the prospect of being only the sixth House member ever expelled from the House, Santos’s imminent departure provides an opening for Suozzi.
Some Hard Political Knocks But Also Big Wins
On Oct. 10, Suozzi joined the Democratic nomination field for the northern Nassau County 3rd Congressional District. It’s the wealthiest House district in New York, and its constituents are the fourth-richest nationally. North Shore Long Island communities include the mansion-strewn enclave of Great Neck, along with Jericho, Syosset, and several others. The district dips into New York City, taking in the Queens neighborhoods of Little Neck and Floral Park, among others.
President Joe Biden in 2020 would have beaten former President Donald Trump in the 3rd Congressional District 53.6% to 45.4%. So, Suozzi saw a comeback bid opportunity as Santos’s legal and House ethics troubles mounted. Polls show him favored over Democratic primary rival Anna Kaplan, a former state senator. And the Republican field is still forming.
Suozzi represented a similarly shaped House district from 2017-23 after a long career in local government. Suozzi’s current attempt to return to the House marks the newest chapter in a career that has seen some big successes and dire lows.
Suozzi, a centrist lawmaker, left the House in the 2022 cycle to wage a failed Democratic primary bid against Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), who had taken over the previous summer from scandal-plagued former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
A positive portion of Suozzi’s political arc began in 2001 when the eight-year Glen Cove mayor made history as the first Democrat to win the Nassau County executive’s office in more than 30 years. That victory marked the end of a storied, old, once-powerful local Republican machine that had run its course in an era of more reformist politics.
But while Suozzi won reelection four years later, what followed was a disastrous political decade that saw him lose the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial primary to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in an epic 82-18 wipeout.
Suozzi then lost the Nassau County executive’s job in 2009 to Republican Ed Mangano by a heartbreakingly close margin of 354 votes out of more than 254,000 cast. Suozzi’s 2013 comeback attempt against Mangano for Nassau County executive was a disaster, losing in a 59% to 41% landslide.
Suozzi’s political career looked over after that loss. But he unexpectedly got the chance for one more comeback in 2016 when Democratic Rep. Steve Israel decided to retire. Suozzi prevailed in a crowded Democratic primary field, and in November beat his Republican opponent 53% to 47%.
Suozzi had no trouble winning reelection to the House seat. In 2020 he even beat rookie candidate Santos 56% to 43%, two years before the Republican claimed victory in the newly drawn version of the district — in a campaign strewn with lies about his biography and finances that’s now leading to his expulsion from the House after less than a year in office.
Yet Suozzi wasn’t content to stay put politically. He challenged Hochul for New York governor, with a call to cut taxes, hire more police officers, and modify the state’s landmark 2019 bail reform law. But his 2022 Democratic gubernatorial primary bid was equally disastrous as his first one 16 years earlier. Hochul won easily, with 67% to 19% for New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams and just 13% for Suozzi.
Then Suozzi had to watch from the sidelines as Santos flipped the House seat he held — a victory that quickly unraveled amid media reports over the congressman-elect’s false statements concerning his background. Suozzi gave a hint of another comeback bid to come when, on his last day in office as a House member, he published a New York Times op-ed titled, “A Con Man Is Succeeding Me in Congress Today.”
Less Than Full House
Santos’s pending departure comes just as the 435-member House finally reaches full capacity. There have been vacancies for months due to lawmaker resignations.
House Republicans currently hold a slim 222-213 chamber, with a pair of vacancies filled by new Reps. Gabe Amo (D-RI) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT), who won House special elections in November. With Santos gone, House Republican leaders will have even less margin for error as they navigate a series of unfinished federal spending bills that have been delayed by infighting among GOP lawmakers.
Congress will look to tackle funding the government for the rest of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2024. Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) successfully ushered a “laddered” continuing resolution to President Joe Biden’s desk earlier in November, which the Democratic chief executive signed into law. The first tranche of funding is set to run out in late January, with the remainder expiring in early February.
Some House Republicans have rebelled against Johnson — after helping evict former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from that top role — for passing bipartisan spending measures. And the legislative math will be even more complicated after Santos’s House departure, whatever the date, and during the duration of his absence until a special election can be held, which Suozzi will be running in.
Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY) recently announced he’ll leave Congress in February. Higgins, a congressman since 2005, is set to be president of Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo. That will tee up a special election in the spring for the 26th Congressional District, part of Erie and Niagara counties, which leans heavily Democratic.
And Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) is set to become the president of Youngstown State University by the end of March. First elected to the House in 2010 after a career in the Air Force and then business, Republicans will have no problem holding the southeastern Ohio and Youngstown area 6th Congressional District in a special election a few months after Johnson’s departure. Once strongly Democratic territory, Trump is quite popular there now, and in 2020 would have crushed Biden in the district 63.7% to 35%.
So, every vote will count in the confounding legislative knot lawmakers will have to unspool in the coming months. On top of the regular, annual appropriations bills, the Biden White House and Senate Republican leaders want passed a bill to fund military aid to Ukraine, in its defensive war against Russia, and Israel, in its response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in the country’s southern realm that killed about 1,200 people.
House Republican leaders are enthusiastic about the Israel part of the funding, but there’s opposition among GOP rank-and-file to spending on Ukraine. Getting a foreign aid package passed probably means including Republican-backed measures beefing up spending on U.S. border security
What potential challenges does the House face in passing federal spending bills with a slim majority?
Raised concerns about the thin majority and the potential impact it could have on passing critical legislation. The loss of Santos only adds to their challenges.
As for Suozzi, this rollercoaster of a political career has had its fair share of ups and downs. From his historic win as Nassau County executive to his devastating losses in the gubernatorial race, Suozzi has experienced both triumph and defeat. However, he has always managed to find a way to bounce back.
Now, with Santos’s impending expulsion, Suozzi sees an opportunity to return to the House and represent the 3rd Congressional District once again. Polls show that he is favored over his Democratic primary rival, Anna Kaplan, and the Republican field is still taking shape.
But there is still much work to be done. The House is facing a series of unfinished federal spending bills, and with a slim majority, every vote counts. House Republican leaders will have to navigate these challenges carefully to ensure the smooth passage of critical legislation.
In the end, Suozzi’s political career is a testament to resilience and determination. He has faced setbacks and obstacles, but he has always managed to come back stronger. Whether he succeeds in his bid to reclaim his House seat remains to be seen, but one thing is certain – Tom Suozzi is a political force to be reckoned with.
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