Barely an hour after the polls closed in New York’s 3rd Congressional District for the special election to replace ousted Congressman George Santos, Democratic candidate Tom Suozzi was declared the winner and Republican Mazi Pilip made her concession speech.
Suozzi flipped the battleground Long Island seat with a message that strongly emphasized bipartisan cooperation on immigration and other key issues.
The election was crucial for numerous reasons. Principally, it narrows the already razor-thin Republican majority in the House and it is being closely scrutinized as a bellwether for the presidential election to be held in November.
The decisive results, Suozzi garnering 52.3% of the vote to Pilip’s 47.7% as of 10PM, was a surprise to most pundits. Polls showed that the candidates were running neck and neck. On election night, that proved to be misleading and the Democrat’s victory was early and decisive.
According to one Republican analyst on CNN, the disappointing results that GOP candidates have experienced in recent election cycles has been due to their resistance to early and absentee voting. Today a snow storm that rolled across New York City may have kept many from voting; the low turnout proved to be particularly ominous for Republicans.
According to sources, Tom Suozzi is due to be sworn in as early as tomorrow morning.
