Just one day after Democrats managed to flip a crucial House seat to further chip away at the GOP’s majority, Republicans are reflecting on the New York election to avoid a similar fate in November.
Democratic candidate Tom Suozzi won the special election to replace former Rep. George Santos on Tuesday, dealing a blow to House Republicans and reducing their already slim majority to just two seats. The loss has prompted some GOP lawmakers to pinpoint the exact cause for the loss, resulting in some finger-pointing within the Republican conference.
Some lawmakers faulted Republican candidate Mazi Pilip herself for the loss, arguing the local lawmaker was not the strongest candidate to take on political veteran Suozzi.
“Mazi Pilip was a horrible candidate,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said. “She was a registered Democrat and hated Trump, that’s a nonstarter in every Republican race in the country and should be the rule.”
Greene also suggested the House should never have expelled Santos in the first place, claiming the move only helped Democrats close in on Republicans’ tight majority. However, Republicans in New York pushed back on that argument, claiming Santos is at fault for the loss of the seat.
“I didn’t shrink the Republican majority. George Santos shrunk it by his actions,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who voted to oust Santos from the House last year. “I don’t regret voting to expel George Santos. He was unfit to serve.”
“There are a lot of decisions that have occurred these last couple of months that have shrunk the majority,” Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY) said. “Perhaps George Santos being honest, would have kept it one more seat to hear him in Congress.”
Despite the loss, GOP leadership projected confidence in the party’s performance on Tuesday, noting Democrats outspent Republicans throughout the special election cycle for a district that Biden handily won by 8 points in 2020. Lawmakers also pointed to Suozzi’s name recognition after previously representing the 3rd District for three terms.
“The voters chose a name they knew and a face that they were familiar with,” Molinaro said. “And somebody, quite frankly, that basically ran away from what has been the Democratic agenda for the last two years.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) brushed off threats that the electoral loss was a warning sign for Republicans’ majority in November, pointing to Suozzi’s campaign messaging on the southern border that he said mirrored GOP talking points.
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“He sounded like a Republican talking about the border and immigration because everybody knows that’s the top issue,” Johnson said. “New York 3 was what it was but it has nothing to do with” the upcoming elections.
The seat will once again be up for grabs on the November ballot. With Suozzi’s victory on Tuesday, it puts him in a stronger position to win the seat again later this year.