(Left) Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) debates in the race for governor at the studios of WNBC4-TV June 16, 2022 in New York City.
(Right) Nassau County legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip speaks during a press conference at American Legion Post 1066 on Dec. 15, 2023, in Massapequa, New York.
(Craig Ruttle-Pool/Getty Images, Adam Gray/Getty Images)
Congressional candidate Mazi Pilip will join Virginia’s Lt. Governor Winsome Sears as the nation’s highest-ranking elected black female conservatives if Long Island residents overwhelmingly vote Republican next month.
Ms. Pilip is competing against Democrat Tom Suozzi as a Republican in a special election on Feb. 13 to replace disgraced Republican Congressman George Santos in Congressional District 3, a battleground district.
The seat was vacated after the House voted to expel Mr. Santos on Dec. 1, 2023.
“No ifs about it ... Speaker Mike Johnson will be at Mazi’s victory party and if he’s smart, he would use her and Congressman Byron Donalds to give speeches all over the place,” New York Congressional candidate Mike Zumblaskas told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Donalds, a Republican, represents Florida’s 19th Congressional District.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) speaks to reporters after a House Republicans caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 12, 2023. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
New York Republicans and black conservatives alike are excited about Ms. Pilip’s candidacy because, if successful, she could be influential not just in New York state but throughout the nation and across party lines.
“There’s a need in Washington to step across the aisle and work with the other side to get things done and Mazi may have a better opportunity to do that than just another white guy picking up the phone trying to talk to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” Vince Casale, a New York political consultant, told The Epoch Times.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a Latina who represents New York’s 14th Congressional District.
“People like President Donald Trump will pick up the phone when Mazi calls, which is a pretty significant accomplishment to have if she is elected in February,” said Rich Scott, an African American conservative who was a Congressional staffer under former U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.).
Nominee for the Republican candidate for Governor Rick Lazio shakes hands at Penn Station. (Henry Lam/The Epoch Times)
Part of Ms. Pilip’s appeal is her gender and race in a political party that has been cast as a bastion of white supremacy and Make America Great Again (MAGA) racists.
Given that she is an Ethiopian American who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it is perceived that Ms. Pilip inherently holds a unique appeal over Mr. Suozzi and that her election would diversify the GOP.
“The Democrats talk about the Republican party being racist and here would be this woman who becomes a Congressperson and is getting all this face time in the national media,” Leticia Remauro, former campaign manager for Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), told The Epoch Times.
“She would help to push the momentum of people of color and minorities understanding that the Republican Party is the place for them.”
Leticia Remauro on Dec. 19, 2023 (Courtesy of Remauro on Facebook)
A 2023 Pew Research Center study showed only 1 percent of GOP voters were black, 7 percent were Hispanic, and 2 percent were Asian.
Ms. Pilip emigrated to Israel from Africa in 1991 and subsequently to New York in 2005 with her husband, cardiologist Dr. Adalbert Pilip.
“Mazi is interesting and inspiring,” said Mr. Scott who also worked on Republican U.S. Senator Bob Dole’s unsuccessful campaign for president in 1996.
“She’s living proof that anybody can make changes in this country. There’s strength in that and it will give other women, black and white, encouragement.”
There’s no indication, however, that the Nassau County GOP nominee can rely on votes of color locally.
In the state of New York, only 9 percent of African-Americans lean Republican compared to 76 percent who lean Democrat and 15 percent are neutral, according to Pew Research Center data.
“Should Pilip win this special election in a blue district for a seat from which a Republican was expelled, it would be staggering,” DK Reddick, co-founder of African American Conservatives and co-host of its podcast, told The Epoch Times.
“It would lead to a more diverse GOP, which would make it easier to court the votes of blacks and other people of color.”
A 2023 New York Times and Siena College opinion poll shows that black conservatives are on the rise and a Pilip victory is expected to further spur the movement.
Since 2016 when President Donald Trump was elected, 22 percent of African Americans in battleground states are vowing to vote for him in November. That’s compared to only 8 percent in 2020 and 6 percent in 2016, according to Pew Research Center data.
That’s because black and Hispanic voters are very concerned about school choice, illegal immigration, and domestic security, according to former Florida Congressman Lt. Col. Allen West, a Republican and retired military officer.
Lt. Col. Allen West speaks in Harlingen, Texas, on Sept. 22, 2021. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)
“When you talk about defunding the police and all of these things, it affects their communities more so than any other,” Mr. West told The Epoch Times.
Mr. West, who previously served as chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, is currently campaigning to lead the Dallas County Republican Party.
In addition to her intriguing background, Ms. Pilip has a track record of winning two tough county legislative seats.
She was elected Nassau County Legislator in 2021, and again in 2023 to represent the 10th District, which includes Great Neck, Manhasset, and Herricks in Long Island.
Federal politics is a bigger beast, which is why Mr. West hopes to see Congresswoman Elise Stefanik mentor the mother of seven if she garners enough votes to win the special election.
Ms. Stefanik represents New York’s 21st Congressional District and chairs the House Republican Conference.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) questions Harvard University President Claudine Gay at a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing on alleged campus anti-Semitism in Washington on Dec. 5, 2023. (House Committee on Education and the Workforce/Screenshot via NTD)
“Mazi will have to look into that abyss that is called the swamp of Washington, D.C., and decide whether she’s going to go along to get along,” Mr. West added. “It’s very important for her to find a coach who will take her under their wing.”
Sudden fame has caused some New York conservatives of color to doubt Ms. Pilip’s commitment to the cause.
Madeline Brame briefly campaigned against New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D) in District 16 as a Republican. She is now the state director of BLEXIT New York.
“We don’t know what her platform is,” Ms. Brame told The Epoch Times.
“We don’t know what she stands for. I heard her speak. She sounds timid. How is she going to translate anything to the black and brown community?”
Madeline Brame at New York Supreme Court, 111 Centre Street, on Nov. 30, 2021 (Courtesy of Madeline Brame on Facebook)
BLEXIT, founded by Candace Owens in 2019 and whose mission is to empower minority communities, merged with Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA in March 2023.
GOP politicians and Political Action Committees (PAC) are embracing Ms. Pilip who told a Politico reporter last month that she is pro-life, supports Israel, and is against defunding the police and an open border policy.
The Republican Jewish Coalition, Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) and Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) have endorsed her along with former New York GOP Congressman Pete King.
On Jan. 7, the Winning for Women Action Fund announced it would make a six-figure investment in digital ads, texting, and direct mail urging voters to support Ms. Pilip, and the New York Post reported this week that Secure New York State PAC has paid six-figures for radio and digital ads that attack Mr. Suozzi as a supporter of illegal immigration.
Ms. Pilip did not respond to requests for comment but, according to a statement online, she is thrilled with the support.
“Winning For Women PAC has a strong track record of backing conservative women leaders,” she said.
“New Yorkers have experienced first-hand what failed liberal policies have done to our state, and the third district needs someone who will work to secure our border, lower our taxes, and fund our law enforcement.”
Juliette Fairley is a freelance reporter for The Epoch Times and a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Born in Chateauroux, France, and raised outside of Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Juliette is a well-adjusted military brat. She has written for many publications across the country. Send Juliette story ideas at [email protected]
