Dec. 8 (UPI) — New York Democrats officially picked former Rep. Tom Suozzi to run for his old House seat that became vacant last week after the chamber expelled GOP Rep. George Santos.
Nassau County Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs and Rep. Gregory Meeks, the Queens County Democratic chairman, whose districts are represented by the House seat announced Suozzi as their selection in a joint statement.
“Tom Suozzi has a proven record of fighting for his constituents, fighting to safeguard our suburban way of life here on Long Island and Queens and always advocating for sensible solutions to the real challenges affecting everyday average Americans,” they wrote.
In his own statement on the selection, Suozzi said the people of the district “deserve better.”
“I will work day and night with both parties to deliver for the people to make living here more affordable, safer and better,” he said. ” I delivered for this district before and I will do it again by putting you ahead of partisanship. Let’s reject the nonsense and get back to work.”
Suozzi is running with the support of establishment Democrats after leaving his seat to run for governor against Gov. Kathy Hochul unsuccessfully.
Hochul said she and Suozzi met privately earlier this week to discuss his campaign.
“I wanted to talk to him directly about what his plan was and how he would run his race,” Hochul said in a news conference Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Hochul set the special election to fill Santos; seat for Feb. 13, giving the candidates about two months to make their case in the swing district.
Republicans are not expected to name a nominee to the seat until next week, as they are set to carefully vet their candidate in the wake of the Santos scandal.
Santos’s surprise win in 2022 quickly fell apart as news reports cropped up about him fabricating much of his background. Ensuing investigations brought charges of fraud, leading to a House probe and his expulsion from Congress.