Can one win in Congress change the balance of power and affect who becomes president? That’s the question many are asking after Tom Suozzi won in New York’s Third District, flipping it from a Republican to a Democrat seat.
In December of 2023, Republican Congressman George Santos (from New York’s Third District) was expelled from the House of Representatives. He was accused of over two dozen federal charges and was investigated by the House Ethics Committee. As a result of these events, according to a December 13, 2023, C-Span article, the House of Representatives voted 311 to 114 to expel George Santos. This vote was incredibly interesting because Republicans overpower Democrats in the House of Representatives, 219 seats to 212 seats respectively. (Note: There are 435 Representatives in total, but four seats were vacant at the time.) Instead of voting partisan, many Republicans decided to vote out their fellow Republican representative.
Since George Santos was ousted, a new special election had to take place in the 3rd district of New York to replace him. The Republican candidate for this election was Mazi Pilip, an American politician who serves as one of New York’s Nassau County Legislators. The Democratic candidate for this election was Tom Suozzi, who previously served as Congressman for New York’s Third District from 2017 – 2023. He stepped down from his position as Congressman in 2023 in an attempt to run for Governor of New York.
At 9:22 am on February 14, 2024, it was confirmed – according to an article by PBS.org, the Associated Press called the race for Democratic candidate Tom Suozzi, who received 91,338 votes (53.9% of the total vote). His opponent, Republican Mazi Pilip, received 78,229 votes (46.1% of the total vote).
Now, why is Tom Suozzi’s win so interesting? Well, when Tom Suozzi is sworn into Congress next week, Republicans will hold a six-seat advantage, down from seven.
Not only that, there are 9 key California Congressional races in November of 2024. These races could decide the battle for the House in 2024 and switch the majority of the House of Representatives from Republicans to Democrats (if Democrats win 6 of these races). If this happens, this could indicate a favorable lean for Joe Biden to win the 2024 presidential election. Democrats already control the Senate, and if they control Congress as well and have a Democratic president, they will most likely have a lot more political power. Only time will tell if and how these races will reshape our nation’s political landscape.
By Sanya Nadeem ‘26, Contributing Writer
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