The two candidates, who will face off in a special election next week in a bid to fill the vacant House seat previously held by former Rep. George Santos, traded barbs during a debate when asked about a number of issues, including immigration and abortion.
Democrat Tom Suozzi, a former House lawmaker who twice unsuccessfully ran for governor of the Empire State, and Republican Mazi Pilip, a former Israel Defense Forces soldier and relative newcomer to politics who serves as a Republican county legislator, they met face to face on Long Island. in the first and only debate of the special election for New York's 3rd congressional district.
Hosted by News 12 Long Island, the pre-recorded debate included a number of topics that are top of mind as voters weigh who to vote for in the contentious election.
When asked by a voter from the district who attended the debate what steps they would take to address the immigration crisis in New York City and the impact it is having on those who live in the district, Pilip responded: “Before even addressing the issue in the interior, “We have to make sure, first and foremost, that we secure the border. After that, we have to come up with a plan. We have to know who is here. “We don't even know who all those people are.”
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Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican Mazi Pilip went head-to-head in the first and only debate, which aired Thursday night, in the special election for New York's 3rd Congressional District. (Getty Images)
“So I can't answer how we are going to address it before we can secure the border,” he added. “Once we secure the border, we have to review who those people are and what we should do with them.”
Responding to Pilip's comments on the issue, although he did not specifically address the question of how he himself would handle the immigration issue, Suozzi said: “Mrs Pilip points out that there is a problem, there is a problem, there is a problem. She does not has solutions. A solution has been proposed in the United States Senate that would actually build more wall, get more border agents, deal with asylum seekers, reform laws to make them better, and give money to New York State and the New York City to address the immigration crisis we currently have.”
“Right now, they want to try to send more immigrants to Creedmoor,” he continued. “I already registered my complaints with the city of New York, saying 'don't put any more in that place.' The reality is that I know how the government works, I know how to do things, I know who to talk to, how to stop things and how to make them happen. My opponent in this race is very good at pointing out the problems…except that his opposition to this bipartisan deal will result in the border staying open for years and years and years, and more immigrants coming to New York. “It has no solution… That's not how you govern.”
The bipartisan “solution” Suozzi refers to in the back-and-forth between the candidates appeared to be the supplemental spending deal that included aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as an ambitious border security and immigration package that failed to deliver. approved by the Senate on Wednesday. .
Former Representative Tom Suozzi, Democratic candidate for New York's 3rd Congressional District, speaks during a campaign rally at the Polish National House in Glen Cove, New York, on February 4, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Responding sharply to Suozzi's comments, Pilip said: “It's amazing that you can come up with a solution. You created this problem. You were there. You were in charge of this problem, Tom. It's amazing, you have to admit it.”
“Are you saying you're about to go fix it? I mean, come on,” he added.
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Declaring him incapable of handling the issue, Pilip, who consistently accused the former congressman of siding with President Biden and voting at the same rate as the Democratic progressive “squad,” claimed that Suozzi “opened the border.”
“Tom Suozzi opened the border. Tom Suozzi funded the sanctuary city. Tom Suozzi drove ICE out of Nassau County,” he said. “This is absolutely yours; you have to own it.”
Suozzi called Pilip's accusation “absurd” and suggested he supports Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Nassau County Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip during a press conference in Massapequa, New York, on December 15, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“You suggesting that I am a member of the team is as credible as you being a member of George Santos' volleyball team,” Suozzi told Pilip.
Prior to his comments, Suozzi received criticism from Pilip this week for a resurfaced social media post in which he shared a guide that appeared to instruct migrants on how to deal with ICE agents in case of the raids promised by the then-president. Trump in 2019. Pilip told Fox News Digital that the Facebook post at the time shows that Suozzi “can't run away from his record of supporting open borders, sanctuary cities and Joe Biden's anarchy.”
On the issue of abortion, Pilip, who noted that she is “pro-life” and a mother of seven, said: “I am not going to impose my own beliefs on any woman, therefore I am not going to support a national ban on abortion. “
Pressing Pilip on the issue, Suozzi asked him if he would vote to codify Roe v. Wade and repeatedly asked him, “Are you pro-choice?”
A voting sign is seen outside City Hall for the special election for New York's 3rd Congressional District in Glen Cove, New York, on February 4, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Pilip did not directly respond to Suozzi's questions on the issue and instead accused the New York Democrat of trying to tell women what to think about their bodies and distorting her record on the issue.
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“How dare you lie like that,” Pilip said in response.
Released Thursday, a Siena College poll conducted for Newsday Feb. 3-6 showed Suozzi leading Pilip 48% to 44% among likely voters.
The special election is scheduled for February 13. Early voting began in the district on February 3.
