With the historic ouster of former Rep. George Santos (R-NY), all eyes are now on the state of New York as Democrats seek to flip his seat blue and chisel away at Republicans’ tight majority in the House.
Santos was removed Friday in a 311-114 vote, marking only the sixth time a lawmaker has been ousted from the lower chamber in U.S. history. His removal offers an opportunity for Democrats to reclaim a seat that was crucial to Republicans winning control of the House last year.
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Santos’s expulsion triggered a special process to elect a new representative to carry out the rest of his term. That process will be headed by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), who has vowed to “undertake the solemn responsibility of filling the vacancy.”
“The people of Long Island deserve nothing less,” Hochul said in a statement on Friday.
With Santos’s removal, Hochul has 10 days to schedule the election, according to state law. Before that election occurs, each party must select its nominee within 30 days of Hochul’s announcement. County parties are expected to pick their nominees rather than hold a primary election.
At least 16 candidates have expressed interest in running for Santos’s seat in 2024, with several likely to compete in the special election. Among them is former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who held the seat before retiring to launch an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2022.
“Now the focus is on doing the work of the American people, and at least back home finding a good conservative Republican who's going to represent the people of the 3rd Congressional District the way they should be,” said Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), one of the New York Republicans who led the charge in Santos’s removal.
“Our county chairman, who I would argue is one of the best Republican chairmen in this country, I am super confident that he will come up with a great candidate,” he added. “One that is a Republican conservative, who's going to be trustworthy, and [will] represent that district just the way it needs to be.”
Both parties and their respective candidate committees are already looking at the race and how it will play a role in possibly shifting the balance of power for the remainder of this Congress.
“The NRCC is monitoring the district closely in concert with state and county parties. We will continue to win elections in New York despite the Democrats’ all-out effort to gerrymander their way through weak candidates and extreme policies," National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Savannah Viar said in a statement.
Democratic groups are already vowing to get involved with the election, which will take place in a toss-up district. The House Majority PAC, a super PAC dedicated to electing Democrats to the lower chamber, said it plans to "play a significant role” in the special election and “will do whatever it takes to flip this district blue.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also pouncing on Santos’s expulsion, with the party’s main fundraising arm already using his ouster to raise money to flip the seat. The group sent emails shortly after the vote passed soliciting funds to further cut down on the GOP’s already-slim majority.
“Their desperation to protect their slim majority is emblematic of the dysfunction and hypocrisy of MAGA Republicans,” DCCC Chairwoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA) said. “The simple truth is George Santos is unfit for Congress, and families across Queens and Nassau County deserve a representative who fights for their community. House Democrats are ready to get to work and take back this seat, moving the House one step closer to delivering for the middle class and working families once more.”
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It is not yet clear whether Democratic leadership will weigh into the election. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) declined to say whether he would endorse a candidate in the primary, telling reporters Thursday he would wait until the expulsion resolution vote was over to make a decision.
“We'll be in the hands of the Nassau County Democratic Party and the Queens County Democratic Party, at which point it would be my expectation that there will be some conversations between those two county organizations and stakeholders … to chart the path forward so that New York's 3rd Congressional District can elect someone who's actually interested in solving problems,” Jeffries said.