Mazi Melesa Pilip was born in the late 1970s in a small village in Ethiopia, and came to Israel in 1991 during Operation Solomon, which brought 14,000 Falashas (Ethiopian Jews) there in two days. She did her military service, continued her studies in Haifa and Tel Aviv and met her husband, a Ukrainian Jewish cardiologist. They emigrated to New York State in 2005, where they had seven children. At the age of 45, Pilip is still a registered Democrat voter, despite winning a local elected position in 2021 under Republican colors. This Orthodox Jew with a singular background has been chosen by the Grand Old Party (GOP) as its candidate in New York State for the February 13 special election, in a district straddling Queens and Nassau counties.

She's attempting to retain the Republican seat which belonged to George Santos, an inveterate liar expelled from Congress in December 2023. The choice of Pilip is indicative of the state of the Democratic Party, which is still tearing itself apart over the war in Gaza, split between young people and the pro-Palestinian left wing on the one hand, and older, pro-Israeli Jews on the other. Republicans are trying to take advantage of this situation in a district with a large Jewish minority.

"The lefty progressive Democrats, they do not support Israel," Pilip told the New York Times. "It’s shameful. When I go to Congress, they'll face a Black woman, a mother of seven children, a former [member of the] IDF, a proud American. They're going to face me." The Hamas attack has hardened her stance, and she's campaigning on the issue. According to the New York Post, Pilip always supported the two-state solution, but had a change of heart after the Hamas attack on October 7, saying Hamas killed the two-state solution.

With the Republican majority in the House hanging by a thread, this special election is decisive. They hold 219 seats, the Democrats 212, while four seats are vacant, including the New York State district. To win this election, the Republicans have spent around $5 million (over €4.6 million) on advertising, and the Democrats twice as much. Facing Pilip, the district's former incumbent, 61-year-old Tom Suozzi, is attempting to reclaim the stronghold he gave up in 2022.

Twice an immigrant – first to Israel, then to the United States – the candidate is also campaigning on the theme of immigration, strongly opposing Joe Biden's policy. At a time when New York City has seen 170,000 migrants arrive over the past two years, and is being financially strangled, the issue is a major one in this election. "Today I spoke about the 1,000 male migrants living in a tent city at Creedmoor in Queens. Parents tell me they’re afraid to bring their children to the park across the street because of harassment. We need to fix this mess Biden & Suozzi created!" she tweeted on January 25, accusing her opponent of systematically supporting Biden's policies in Congress.

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