Voters are choosing a replacement for former Republican congressman George Santos, who was expelled last year after a tumultuous half-term in office — and they sound grouchy.
Democrat Tom Suozzi is running against Republican Mazi Pilip for the seat he gave up to run for New York governor, and immigration emerged as the top campaign issue in the Long Island special election, reported Semafor.
“It’s the blind following the pied piper — the whole thing is ludicrous,” said Bob Conticchio, an 81-year-old Suozzi voter who blamed Donald Trump for the collapse of a bipartisan immigration bill. “There ought to be an avenue for the ‘dreamers,’ so-called, and obviously, there needs to be more staffing of the department that takes care of these people coming in, because we’re overloaded – obviously.”
Nick Naymushin, a 40-year--old voter who emigrated to the district from Ukraine after Russia invaded two years ago, was turned off by messaging from Pilip, an immigrant from Ethiopia who previously served in the Israeli Defense Forces.
“They’re doing all this political trickery, where they create a problem and then they try to run on it,” Naymushin said. “They have a solution on their desks, yet they are refusing to resolve it, because they get political gain from this still being an issue.”
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However, some voters blamed the migrant surge on Democrats and were skeptical of Suozzi's stance on immigration.
“They’ve just let [the border] stay open, and brought them in, and now they’re committing crimes in the city, and nothing is happening,” said voter Patricia Ross, 65. “... From what I understand the [Senate] bill was a lot of baloney. It was not really about immigration. It was mostly giving money to Ukraine, and I find that they get way too much money.”
