Republican pollster Frank Luntz said the result of Tuesday’s New York special election was the “final wakeup call” for House Republicans after former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D) won back his old seat and helped Democrats further narrow the GOP majority.
“Democrats just flipped George Santos’ #NY03 House seat,” Luntz posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Tonight is the final wakeup call for the @HouseGOP. If they ignore or attempt to explain away why they lost, they will lose in November as well.”
“The issue agenda is on their side. Their congressional behavior is not,” he added.
Suozzi defeated GOP candidate Mazi Pilip in the special election to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who was expelled in December after criminal charges were filed against him.
Suozzi emphasized his ties to the state’s 3rd Congressional District, which he represented for six years before not seeking reelection in 2022 for a failed gubernatorial bid.
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While campaigning, he positioned himself as a moderate who was willing to break with his party. He ran on a platform that advocated for the compromise immigration deal he previously reached in 2019, as well as support for the deal that was drafted in the Senate last week.
The contest was viewed as an important marker heading into the general election this November because the state will be key to Democrats’ attempts to win back the House. Suozzi’s district voted for President Biden in 2020 but elected Santos in 2022.
According to Luntz, Suozzi’s win Tuesday is not an indication the district will automatically back Biden again.
“It isn’t. It’s a rejection of House Republican chaos,” Luntz said in a separate post. “The NY-03 district hates Biden’s immigration policy and the crime wave in New York. But congressional Republicans gave voters nothing to vote for.”