Former Rep. Tom Suozzi running for old House seat in bid to oust George Santos

Former Democratic New York Rep. Tom Suozzi announced he would be running for his old House seat in New York’s 3rd Congressional District in a bid to oust embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY) and flip the key seat back in Democrats’ favor.

Suozzi launched his campaign bid on Tuesday, joining a crowded field of Democratic candidates seeking to replace Santos when the seat is up for grabs next November. Suozzi represented the 3rd District from 2016 to 2022, when he opted not to run for reelection and instead ran for New York governor. He lost to incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

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“The madness in Washington, D.C., and the absurdity of George Santos remaining in the United States Congress is obvious to everyone,” Suozzi said in a statement. “You know me, I’ve never sat on the sidelines. From the cost-of-living to immigration, crime, climate change, combating terrorism in the Middle East and globally, and simply helping people, we need more common sense and compassion and less chaos and senseless fighting.”

Santos faces an uphill battle for reelection as his numerous controversies have attracted several Republicans seeking to challenge the first-term incumbent in the GOP primary. Even if he does manage to clinch the party’s nomination, the 3rd District seat is one of Democrats’ top targets for the 2024 cycle — and the seat is expected to lean Democratic, putting Santos at an early disadvantage.

Since being sworn into office at the beginning of this year, Santos has attracted controversy for embellishing several elements of his life story while on the campaign trail. Among the statements that have come under scrutiny are Santos’s claims of Jewish heritage and that his mother was at the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Santos also finds himself in possible legal trouble, having been indicted by the Justice Department on counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and lying to Congress. Santos has pleaded not guilty to the charges and dismissed the allegations as politically motivated.

House Democrats sought to oust Santos from office through an expulsion vote in mid-May, but that effort failed after House Republicans put forward a motion to refer the matter to the Ethics Committee, which needed only a simple majority to pass. No Republicans voted against the motion, allowing the measure to advance.

Then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said the matter would be referred to the Ethics Committee for a 60-day review, which expired before Congress adjourned for its annual August recess. The status of that review remains unclear, and a spokesperson for the committee declined to comment when asked by the Washington Examiner last month.

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Santos has repeatedly denounced efforts to remove him from office, accusing Democrats of shifting their focus from must-pass legislation making its way through Congress.

“Democrats on the other side of the aisle have completely lost focus on the work they should be doing,” Santos said in a statement last month. “My record proves that my office is hard at work, serving constituents and crafting keen legislation.”