Long Island and Queens Republicans will nominate Nassau County legislator Mazi Pilip — — a former Israeli paratrooper and native of Ethiopia — to run as its candidate to replace the expelled George Santos in the House of Representatives, GOP officials confirmed Thursday.
A formal announcement of Pilip’s candidacy will take place Friday in Massapequa.
The special election for the vacant seat of the Third Congressional District — which takes in much of Nassau County and parts of eastern Queens — will be held Feb. 13 .
Pilip, who resides in Great Neck, will face off against former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who repped the Third District for six years before resigning to pursue an unsuccessful run for governor in 2022.
Pilip has twice been elected county legislator in the Democratic stronghold of North Hempstead, which includes heavily Jewish Great Neck, in 2021 and 2023.
As a young girl, Pilip was airlifted from Ethiopia to Israel to flee religious persecution during Operation Solomon in 1991. She was one of more than 14,000 Jews secretly transported to the Jewish state in a matter of 36 hours.
She resided in Israel for 15 years before moving to the US, serving as a paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Force.
“I’m very excited. I’m very thankful for the Republican Party and Conservative Party for supporting me,” Pilip told The Post Thursday in a brief phone interview.
“I’m here for the people,” she added. “The people are behind us. I’m very confident we will have a big victory.”
Pilip, 44, who has seven children aged 2 to 15, said standing strong for Israel and combating antisemitism will be among her top priorities along with tightening border security, public safety and lowering taxes.
“I will support Israel 100%. What Hamas did on Oct. 7 during the religious holiday was shocking. It was horrific. They killed families, kidnapped babies and raped women,” Pilip said during the phone interview, accompanied by Nassau County GOP chairman Joe Cairo and Queens Republican leader Tony Nunziato.
“Antisemitism is on the rise. Our Jewish students are going through a hard time. That’s unacceptable,” Pilip said.
Alluding to the migrant crisis, Pilip said she will fight for stricter border security.
“Biden’s open border policy has been a disaster for our country,” she said.
After getting burned by serial fibber Santos’ lies about most of his background, Cairo noted the GOP did extensive vetting of the more than two dozen candidates who expressed interest.
“Mazi is so squeaky clean,” the Nassau Republican leader emphasized.
In a curious twist, Pilip will run for Congress as a Republican despite being a registered Democrat, a fact Cairo said he had no issue with.
“Whether she’s a Republican or a Democrat makes no difference,” he said. “We looked for the best candidate.
“She’s a great candidate. She will be a great congresswoman,” he added.
Nunziato, the Queens GOP chairman, called Pilip “a tremendous candidate” who will get “excellent backing from all over the district.”
Republican former US Sen. Al D’Amato, who has deep ties to the Nassau GOP, added that “Mazi is a great choice” who can win crossover votes from Democrats, as she has in her races local legislature.