The national Republican Party is finally investing heavily in the 3rd Congressional District special election in New York, hoping to ride the wave of public outcry over the migrant situation to triumph.
Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip will run her first television ad buy in the Long Island and Queens contest on February 13th, supported by the Congressional Leadership Fund, the biggest House GOP super PAC. With a $1.5 million buy, the commercial will air for two weeks on New York City broadcast and cable starting Saturday.
Pilip, a former soldier in the Israeli Defence Forces who was born in Ethiopia, is challenging Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York who is seeking to regain his former seat. In the expensive New York City media market, Pilip has been outspent on television by roughly seven to one so far.
The new commercial centres on the migrant issue and immigration, two topics that have been prominent in messages leading up to the special election. The influx of approximately 160,000 migrants into New York City in the last year is a problem that affects the entire region.
The advertisement claims that Suozzi is inviting “illegal immigrants” and includes a clip of him saying, “I kicked ICE out of Nassau County.” There are two plays of the clip in the 15-second commercial.
Suozzi voted against notifying authorities if an unauthorised immigrant attempted to purchase a firearm, and the National Republican Congressional Committee is also running a TV campaign on immigration that warns of this.
On Thursday, Suozzi released his own advertisement in which he promised to increase border security and adopt a hard line against illegal immigration. In what is sure to be a heated debate on immigration, he has joined his ally, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, in criticising the Biden administration for failing to provide localities with the necessary resources to handle the surge of migrants arriving at the border.
A total of $2.3 million will be invested by CLF; this includes $350,000 for digital and streaming platform commercials and $500,000 for mail and text message marketing.
The race was off to a bad start for Pilip. The district gives Suozzi a lot of attention because of his three years in Congress.
So far, a total of $3.8 million has been spent by Suozzi, the House Democratic campaign arm, and House Majority PAC, the Democrats’ primary House super PAC. The Republican Party and Pilip have spent $580,000, according to AdImpact data.
The increased Republican investment will help reduce the budget shortfall, but it won’t be enough to fund the last two weeks of the campaign. • The current ad buy by CLF will conclude at the end of January, however it may be extended at a later date.
Although Santos won the district in 2022, the district supported Joe Biden in 2020 by a margin of 9 points.
The GOP is hoping to maintain control of the chamber next year and is anxious to capitalise on Long Island’s recent rightward shift by winning a special election to demonstrate their sustained dominance.
To regain control of the House of Representatives, Democrats are aiming to halt the GOP’s advances in New York in 2022 and reclaim a sufficient number of seats in the state this year.