National Republicans are finally pouring major money into the special election in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, and they’re counting on backlash against the migrant crisis to lift their candidate to victory.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, the largest House GOP super PAC, is placing its first TV ad buy for Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip ahead of the Feb. 13 race on Long Island and in Queens. The spot will run on New York City broadcast and cable for two weeks beginning Saturday, backed by a $1.5 million buy.
Pilip, an Ethiopian-born former Israeli Defense Forces soldier, faces former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), who is running to reclaim his old seat. And so far Pilip has been outspent on TV by a nearly 7 to 1 ratio in the pricy New York City media market.
The focus of the new spot is immigration and the migrant crisis, which has been playing a central role in special-election messaging. New York City in particular has been grappling with a surge of more than 160,000 migrants over the past year, an issue that has resonated across the region.
The ad accuses Suozzi of rolling “out the red carpet for illegal immigrants” and uses audio of Suozzi saying, “I kicked ICE out of Nassau County.” The clip plays twice in the 15-second version of the spot.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is also airing a TV ad on immigration, warning that Suozzi opposed penalizing sanctuary cities and voted against alerting authorities if an undocumented immigrant tried to buy a firearm.
Suozzi cut an ad of his own Thursday, vowing to take a tough stance on illegal immigration and beef up border security. Anticipating criticism on immigration, he has criticized the Biden administration for not providing cities with the resources to deal with the influx of migrants from the border — a stance shared by his ally, New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The total investment from CLF will total $2.3 million, including $350,000 of ads on streaming and digital platforms and $500,000 of mail and text messages.
Pilip started the race at a disadvantage. Suozzi, who served three terms in Congress, has extremely high name ID in the district.
Suozzi, the House Democratic campaign arm and House Majority PAC, Democrats’ chief House super PAC, have spent a collective $3.8 million so far. Pilip and the Republicans have spent $580,000, according to data from AdImpact.
The new GOP investment will help alleviate the spending gap but does not close it — and doesn’t cover the final two weeks of the race. (CLF’s current ad buy ends at the end of January though they could later extend it.)
The district backed Joe Biden by 9 points in 2020, but elected Santos in 2022.
Long Island has taken a sharp turn to the right in recent years, and the GOP is eager for a special election victory to prove their continued dominance as it looks to retain control of the chamber next year.
Democrats hope to blunt GOP gains in New York in 2022 and retake enough seats in the state this year to win back the House majority.