House GOP PAC unloads on Tom Suozzi with $2.3M attack ads to back Mazi Pilip in special election for Santos seat
The House Republican Super PAC is unloading on Democrat Tom Suozzi with $2.3 million in attack ads over the next two weeks to help Republican Mazi Pilip in the Feb. 13 special election to succeed expelled, ex-GOP Congressman George Santos.
The Congressional Leadership Fund spending on the airwaves and social media accuses Suozzi of being soft on border enforcement and comes as a recent poll shows a neck-and-neck race, with Suozzi notching 45% support and Pilip at 42% in the 3rd Congressional District that includes Nassau County and parts of Eastern Queens.
The GOP is playing catch up in the ad wars.
Suozzi and the Democrats torched Pilip with millions of dollars of TV ads earlier this month, depicting her as a Donald Trump “MAGA” Republican.
Suozzi and Dems combined have spent $5.8 million on the race thus far, while Pilip and the GOP have spent $1.8 million, a Democratic source close to the race said.
“The out-of-control migrant crisis has wreaked havoc on New Yorkers, and Tom Suozzi helped create this disaster and then even bragged about it,” said CLF President Dan Conston.
“Voters aren’t fooled by his disingenuous change of tune. Tom Suozzi would only make this crisis worse. The clear choice is Mazi Pilip.”
The ads recycle a clip of Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive, boasting when he was a candidate for governor in 2022 that, “I kicked ICE [US Immigrant and Customs Enforcement] out of Nassau County.”
Another pro-Pilip Super PAC — Secure New York State PAC — also launched a six-figure radio and digital ads slamming the Democrat as “Sanctuary Suozzi.”
Pilip struck a similar theme Sunday, seeking to link Suozzi to Gov. Kathy Hochul. She accused Hochul of diverting funding from Long Island school districts to pay for migrants services in New York City.
“As a mother of seven children and as a legal immigrant, I am outraged by the governor’s decision to increase funding for migrant services by $500 million while cutting aid to our local schools by over $10 million,” Pilip, a Nassau County legislator, said.
“The Governor’s funding cuts to Long Island’s children is the result of the reckless ‘open borders’ policies of Joe Biden and Tom Suozzi, as well as the ‘sanctuary city’ agenda of Governor Hochul and Tom Suozzi,” Pilip said. “Their out-of-touch approach to the migrant crisis, which they created, is hurting our children’s education.”
Suozzi responded Sunday night, accusing Pilip of refusing to debate him and avoiding questions about her positions.
“You can’t fix immigration from the basement, which is the campaign Mazi Pilip is running – refusing to talk to voters, ducking issues, and offering soundbites from party bosses,” Suozzi said.
“The only real solution to immigration requires a bipartisan effort that combines tougher border security with common sense reforms that stops illegal immigration and creates a pathway for those who follow the rules.“
Suozzi senior Kim Devin accused Pilip of “hiding from voters”, adding, “No one knows anything about her or her positions but she and her puppet masters in the national Republican Party are launching desperate and flat-out false attacks against Tom Suozzi.
“Tom Suozzi has always done what’s best for Nassau and Queens. In 2018 and 2019, when national Democrats were demonizing and trying to defund ICE, he stood up to his own party and voted to both support and fund ICE.”
She defended Suozzi’s “kick ICE out of Nassau County” remark, saying “rogue ICE agents drew their weapons on Nassau County police officers” and he and the then-Nassau County police commissioner “took ICE to task for putting Nassau County citizens at risk.”
