Mazi Pilip Supporters React to Tom Suozzi’s NY Special Election Victory

‘We are fighters. Yes, we lost, but it doesn’t mean we’re ending here,’ Mazi Pilip told supporters.

Mazi Pilip addresses supporters at The Lannin after conceding the special congressonal election to Tom Suozzi, on Feb. 13, 2024. Courtesy of Juliette Fairley

An hour after polls in Queens and Nassau County closed at 9 p.m., GOP candidate and federal politics newcomer Mazi Pilip conceded to former Democrat Rep. Tom Suozzi who won the special election to replace disgraced former Rep. George Santos (R-NY).

Dressed in a red dress and flanked by Nassau County GOP chair Joe Cairo, Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, Nick LaLota, former congressman Peter King, and other Republican notables, Ms. Pilip thanked volunteers and her colleagues.

“Each one of you worked so hard every single day in the last eight weeks, and we did a great job,” she said amid cheers and chants. “We are fighters. Yes, we lost, but it doesn’t mean we’re ending here.”

New York City and Long Island Hit With Winter Storm

The election was marred by a winter storm that blanketed New York City and Long Island with snow.

Ms. Pilip’s campaign offered her supporters rides to voting locations to navigate the snowy roads and highways but the effort wasn’t enough to win.

“It may have played a part in some people not getting out,” Republican state assemblyman for the 9th District Michael Durso told The Epoch Times. “It was an opportunity either way for Mazi to get her name out there, for people to understand her story, know who she is, and that she’s a great candidate.”

She was twice elected Nassau County legislator in 2021 and again in 2023 to represent the 10th District, which includes Great Neck, Manhasset, and Herricks.

But overall in the state’s 3rd Congressional District, Ms. Pilip secured 78,2229 votes or 46.1 percent to Mr. Suozzi’s 91,338, according to The Associated Press.

The race was called at 10:03 p.m. on the night of the election.

“I was with Mazi with her family when Nassau County chair told her there’s no more pathway, and she had to concede and call Tom Suozzi, Congressman Suozzi now,” Pilip family friend Mehran Hakimian told The Epoch Times. “She gracefully made the call with a smile on her face. Not for a second did she hold her head down.”

Having received 53.9 percent of the vote, Mr. Suozzi will fill the seat vacated by Mr. Santos who was expelled following a months-long scandal over the veracity of his statements on the campaign trail and a federal indictment.

Allegations against Mr. Santos include aggravated identity theft and falsification of records.

“It would have been nice to have a different look for the Republican Party and a face that we hadn’t seen before, and then to have him have so many transgressions was just embarrassing,” Massapequa voter Brandan Colfer told The Epoch Times.

Friend of the Pilip family Mehran Hakimian attends a watch party in New York, on Feb. 13, 2024. Courtesy of Juliette Fairley

Since the special election was called only to complete Mr. Santos’ term, Mr. Suozzi will hold office until November’s general election and will have to challenge for the seat all over again in nine months.

Declared GOP candidates include Kellen Curry and Gregory Hach. Ms. Pilip did not respond when asked on the campaign trail if she would run again in November.

Mr. Suozzi will return to Congress as a senior member since he previously represented the district for six years but he was uncertain when yesterday’s election results would be certified.

“We hope it'll be certified tomorrow morning,” he said. “If it doesn’t get certified right away, and they are not in session after Friday, it wouldn’t be until the 1st of March.”

New York GOP Asian Caucus director of leadership Grace Wu at Mazi Pilip's watch party, on Feb. 13, 2024. Courtesy of Juliette Fairley

Asian Votes Key

Ms. Pilip’s election night watch party took place at The Lannin in East Meadow. The mood was somber but hopeful and attended by Republican elected officials as well as volunteers who dined on shrimp and other fine delicacies.

“We just have to work harder to get out all the votes in the Asian community,” New York GOP Asian Caucus director of leadership Grace Wu told The Epoch Times. “I believe the next election will be based on the Asian community in Nassau, and for other races as well. Mazi did a fantastic job, but we just need to do better.”

Kate Murray, the Republican town clerk of Hempstead in Nassau County, attends Mazi Pilip's watch party, on Feb. 13, 2023  Courtesy of Juliette Fairley

More Democrats Voted Early

Kate Murray, the Republican town clerk of Hempstead in Nassau County, noted that Democrats voting early played a part in Mr. Suozzi’s success.

More than 57,000 voters cast ballots in Nassau County during the early voting period, according to the Nassau County Board of Elections. Of the total, 42% were Democrats, 34% were Republicans and 20% were unaffiliated with a major party.

“That seemed to carry the day in this very quick eight-week race and Tom Suozzi has been in politics, in the public eye, for 30 years at this point, if not more,” Ms. Murray told The Epoch Times.

Name Recognition

Mr. Suozzi was previously a gubernatorial candidate against Gov. Kathy Hochul and lost. But he gained name recognition in the process.

Ms. Pilip is viewed as the ideal cross-over candidate in New York’s melting pot of races and cultures due to her multi-ethnic background and family.

She is an Ethiopian American of the Orthodox Jewish faith who emigrated from the Horn of Africa to Israel where she served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). While there, she met her Ukrainian husband with whom she immigrated to the United States. They have seven children.

“Mazi represents an extraordinary image for America, not just for the Republican party,” Jeff Ballabon, who was an adviser to former President Donald Trump, told The Epoch Times as he left the party. “It would’ve been nice to have that image in Washington. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way this time around. It’s a sad loss.”