Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. We've been covering the campaign to replace George Santos in Congress from New York's 3rd Congressional District, and we'll continue that now with a look at how Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican Mazi Pilip are campaigning and compare some of their stance on the issues in the swing district, which includes parts of Northeast Queens like Bayside, Douglaston–Little Neck, and mostly the North Shore of Nassau County, from Great Neck out to Syosset, and some points further south like Hicksville and Massapequa.

The district went for Biden in 2020 but elected the Republican Santos in 2022, so this is really a swing district. This special election begins with early voting soon on Saturday, February 3rd, and continues through the actual election day on Tuesday, February 13th. Of course, there are national implications for narrowing the tiny Republican majority even more immediately, and as a test case, perhaps more importantly, on how to campaign for many, many swing suburban districts around the country with control of Congress in play for this fall.

For example, Pilip is running as a Republican, but as you'll hear in this clip of her being interviewed on FOX 5, she recites most of the National Republican talking points but tries to distance herself from at least one.

Mazi Pilip: If you're revising my voting record, you will see I'm all about law enforcement, supporting law enforcement, public safety, lowering taxes, and securing our borders.

FOX 5 Interviewer: What about abortion?

Mazi Pilip: Abortion? Oh, sir, I know is a very complex issue.

FOX 5 Interviewer: You have seven kids.

Mazi Pilip: Seven kids, yes. [chuckles] I'm religious, therefore, I am pro-life. However, and I want to emphasize the however here, I'm not going to force my own beliefs in any woman. It's not going to happen, therefore, I'm not going to support a national abortion ban.

Brian Lehrer: Mazi Pilip on FOX 5. For Suozzi's part, here he is on Spectrum News NY1, backing President Biden on most things, but notably not on one.

Tom Suozzi: I think the president has done a lot of fantastic accomplishments related to infrastructure, the CHIPS Act, the fact that the economy is improving. I'm not happy that the president has not made immigration more of a focus.

Brian Lehrer: We'll hear more clips of the candidates as we go, and we'll take your phone calls. With me now, two reporters following the race, Rebecca Lewis, senior state politics reporter at City & State NY, and Nick Reisman, who covers New York state government and politics for Politico New York and is co-author of their morning newsletter called New York Playbook. Hi, Rebecca. Hi, Nick. Welcome back to WNYC.

Nick Reisman: Hi, Brian.

Rebecca Lewis: Hi.

Brian Lehrer: Nick, I see Politico has published brief interview transcripts with both candidates. How much did those clips start to get at how they're positioning themselves on the issues?

Nick Reisman: Well, one thing, Brian, that we're seeing right now is that former Congressman Tom Suozzi has been making central to his argument that he should be returning to Congress in his old congressional seat is his staunch support for Israel, which there's very little daylight between him and President Joe Biden on the issue of the United States supporting Israel in the wake of the 10/7 Hamas attacks.

Suozzi actually visited Israel among a litany of congressional candidates and elected officials from the US who have traveled to Israel in the weeks since the Hamas attack and essentially has come back and said, "Look, this is something where we have to be unwavering in our support for Israel moving forward." Pilip, on the other hand, has tried to not necessarily shy away from saying that support for Israel is central to her campaign, but if you look at her biography, she is a former member of the IDF. She is Jewish herself.

She has said that there's a number of issues that she's looking at here in this campaign, especially when it comes to the migrant crisis facing New York right now, and she is [unintelligible 00:04:37] Democrats and tie Suozzi to the migrant crisis in New York. That's something that we've seen in polling become very politically potent in this state. The special election on February 13th and in the days leading up to early voting are really seen by both parties as a test case for whether that migrant crisis message is going to resonate with voters or not going forward into the election season, especially with some of these battleground House races.

Brian Lehrer: We'll get more into migrants as an issue and the Middle East as an issue in this race as we go. Anything from you, Rebecca, to start out on how much those clips were representative of how they're trying to position themselves in this swing district?

Rebecca Lewis: I think that they are pretty representative. Tom Suozzi is trying very hard. First off, it's hard to position yourself to be more pro-Israel than an Ethiopian refugee brought to Israel who served in the IDF, Orthodox Jewish person. It's hard to say that you're more pro-Israel than someone with that background, so it makes sense that he's trying to appeal to constituencies for whom this is a major issue.

Just in general, I think it makes sense too for Pilip to not necessarily make her entire campaign about, let's say, her identity that she is also running on issues that often resonate with Republican voters, even on Long Island, even though the border crisis is not something that directly influences or directly impacts Long Islanders. She's also focused on crime and safety and the migrant crisis, which is a big issue on Long Island.

Ultimately, it's hard to say how much specific stances on these issues is really going to impact the race as opposed to general partisan politics, which also makes sense for Tom Suozzi who's really, really pushing his bipartisan bona fides to try to get those conservative independents and even get those Republican voters who might vote for him. It's why he launched his campaign at the home of a Republican voter.

Long Island has become so incredibly partisan, even more so than other parts of the country and even more so than other parts of the state. Tom Suozzi is, in many ways, facing an uphill battle to go against the three-year-long red wave that has hit Long Island. I think it's harder for him, even with his background, than it is for someone with an R next to their name.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners, your calls with questions or comments are welcome. I guess we could say we're close enough to early voting. We can say electioneering welcome here. You can call and support your candidate, but we, of course, want people with questions about the two candidates and any other comments. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692 for Nick Reisman from Politico New York, and Rebecca Lewis from City & State NY. 212-433-WNYC, especially from the district. 212-433-9692, call or text.

Let me follow up for a second, and Rebecca, I'll give you the first shot at this, but I don't know if one of you is more on it than the other, the issue that the host singled out in the FOX 5 interview of Pilip, abortion rights. Is Pilip's position clear from that answer and other things that you know that she has said that she would not support any new limits on abortion rights at all as a member of Congress? Her answer there was that she wouldn't support a national abortion ban, which is the most extreme version of something Congress might do. Or is Suozzi questioning her record on that, or is he different than her on that in any way? Rebecca, how known is that?

Rebecca Lewis: I think that Pilip's answer is about as clear as we will often see with Republicans running in districts that have a lot of moderates or lean Republican or our swing districts. It's not uncommon to see Democrats go after Republicans who won't say definitively, let's say, "I'm not going to limit abortion in any way." Pilip is saying, "I am personally pro-life, but I do not support an abortion ban." That is very similar to other Republicans who have been elected in the suburbs, whether it's Long Island or the Hudson Valley.

The records have maybe been-- I don't want to say mixed. Certainly, there have been Republicans who have been elected in moderate or swing districts who have gotten criticism for their votes on abortion adjacent issues. Limiting access to abortion care for veterans, I believe, was something that came up for a few of the Republicans being targeted by Democrats, which is not directly the same as voting for a national abortion ban or supporting that. It's about as clear as I think you will get from a lot of Republicans, and it makes sense that Tom Suozzi is attacking her for it.

We've seen that the abortion issue, at least the past couple of years, has not resonated as much with New York voters as it has with other voters across the country. Now, whether that will change this year in a presidential year when you have more voters coming out who might not come out in off-year elections, who might be more worried about national issues, it might be coming up more, but we have certainly seen that the issue of abortion focusing on that and trying to hit Republicans on abortion hasn't necessarily led to stellar results for Democrats trying to win back or just outperform Republicans.

Brian Lehrer: Anything to add on that, Nick?

Nick Reisman: I agree with Rebecca very broadly on that. Whenever you ask Republicans about the abortion issue, especially in New York, they do not necessarily want to answer that question, and it is difficult to get a very clear [unintelligible 00:11:25] response to them. Usually, the stock reply is they do not support that "national abortion ban." I will disagree however that abortion can still resonate in some congressional districts. We saw it be a big issue in the special election between Pat Ryan and Marc Molinaro back in 2022 and some Democrats--

Brian Lehrer: That's in the Hudson Valley just north of the city.

Nick Reisman: In the Hudson Valley, yes. Right. It has resonated in some of these suburban and ex-urban districts. I'm not quite sure to Rebecca's point, and I think she's right here, that this is something that necessarily will have legs in a suburban race where Tom Suozzi himself, who has said he's supportive of abortion rights, is not making it central to his campaign. I would expect, and I think we have seen already a number of [unintelligible 00:12:17] already make that a case for abortion rights themselves, and Suozzi is focusing on these other issues.

Brian Lehrer: Here's another clip of Mazi Pilip on something that she is making central to her campaign. It's the migrant's issue. She was asked in that FOX 5 interview, being an immigrant yourself, and I'm paraphrasing here-- These weren't the exact words in the question, but she was born in Ethiopia. Her family were refugees to Israel, as you two have been describing, when she was 12, and then eventually to the United States. With that background herself, is she not supportive of people trying to come here now themselves under circumstances that they may see as similar? Here's part of her response.

Mazi Pilip: I came to this country legally. When I came to Israel, I came legally. It's very important. I can tell you from experience, being a new immigrant is a hard process; to learn a new language, new culture as you struggle every single day. Then as a child you come home, you want your parents to help you with homework; there is nobody to help you. If we want to bring people, it has to be legal, and the government, we have the responsibility to make sure we are helping those people to integrate into society and becoming a good member of the society.

That's the right way to do it. The open border policy right now bringing millions without any plan is not helping the American people and is not helping the immigrant. I felt this twice. In every point, you want to give up, and if you're not educated enough, you're going to find yourself dealing with crime. You don't want that. That's not fair.

Brian Lehrer: Rebecca, how central do you think the migrants and the border are right now as a voting issue in this district? The district is in parts of Nassau and Northeast Queens that I think are not seeing large numbers of migrants or shelters themselves. With other things on people's minds; the economy, democracy, the Middle East, climate, housing, how salient do you think the migrant issue is in this swing district race?

Rebecca Lewis: I think that hitting the right tone on the migrant issue will be very important. We are not seeing a lot of migrants who are being relocated to Nassau County, and frankly, the Queen's portion of the district is very minimal. The impact that the migrant crisis is having in New York City, the constituency, I'm not trying to say that they are not important, but they are a much smaller minority in the voters that Suozzi and Pilip are going to be appealing to.

Nassau County residents, we've certainly seen with Bruce Blakeman, the Republican County Executive, has been vocal about not having migrants come into the county to not have them sheltered in the county. It plays into the broader concerns that Long Island residents and residents of the district have voted. The issues that they voted on in the past, which relate to crime and public safety and messaging that migrants coming into New York City is causing chaos, that they are committing crime. Even if there isn't data that's supporting that, there is a perception that that is what's happening, that this is part of the crumbling of New York City.

It's a very Long Island, very suburban thing to say that New York City is falling apart. It's full of crime. It's not safe. We're afraid to go on the subways, and the influx of migrants has only exasperated that even if there, again, hasn't been data statistics to suggest that that's true.

Brian Lehrer: We certainly heard in the clip, Pilip made sure to punctuate that answer with the word crime at the end of the stretch we played.

Rebecca Lewis: Yes. It's part of the broader messaging to-- I don't think anyone is necessarily going to vote on the issue, but I think that hitting the wrong tone and saying the wrong things, not mentioning as Pilip did these concerns, may alienate voters. It's also true that there are still Democratic base members who live on Long Island who I know have been unmotivated in some of the past years, who also might not like the fact that Tom Suozzi is also not trying to take a stance on this.

That's more of a broader issue in terms of who the candidates are trying to get out in terms of moderate swing voters as opposed to, especially for Democrats, the base voters who may not have been turning out in the recent years, but they're really focused on those independent conservative leading or independent swing voters who have been voting for Republicans. These are the issues that they are worried about. It makes sense to, like I said, strike the right tone even if I don't think there are very many voters who are going to-- that this will be an issue that their vote hinges on.

Brian Lehrer: Nick, anything to add on that? Do you agree that Suozzi is trying to not talk about that issue while Pilip is trying to emphasize it?

Nick Reisman: Yes, I agree with Rebecca here. Like I said, with abortion for Republicans, the migrant crisis is a similar issue for Democrats that they're pushing back on from their back foot and is one that they do have some trouble discussing, in part, because they don't want to potentially undermine President Biden who has struggled with this border security issue as well. This is one of those wedge concerns for Democrats that they're going to really probably struggle with going into this election season, barring some relief here for this migrant crisis.

At the same time though, you're also seeing to the point about crime and public safety whenever, as Rebecca mentioned, this concept that New York City is falling apart, is in deep trouble, if you're in the New York City media market, you are seeing images on the nightly news in the New York Post or the newspaper, whatever, stories about the migrant crisis, about this influx and flow of people into the city over these last two years or so now. Even if you are not necessarily seeing it on your suburban street, you're seeing it virtually every day in the news. That's something that voters are really internalizing, I suspect.

Brian Lehrer: A listener texts this message, "Nassau cares about federal and state taxes that they pay going to immigrants." Nick, I wonder if you see it as a real thing, the intersection between the issue of taxes and the issue of migrants. I think they both are campaigning on their record and attacking the others' record on taxes generally.

Nick Reisman: Yes, I think that's true. Obviously, we're talking about these issues like the migrant crisis, public safety, which are relatively new from the last decade or so. One thing that you can always count on is that taxes will be a major issue in any sort of Nassau County race. I remember as a young reporter covering then Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi who in a rather quixotic [unintelligible 00:20:00] for governor against then Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in a Democratic primary was campaigning on a property tax cap, so yes, taxes are a major league issue here.

One issue that we're going to be seeing come to the forefront next week when Governor Hochul releases her budget is how much money she is going to propose to addressing the migrant crisis in New York State. All of that is going to get tied up here in that migrant debate about how much state resources, federal resources should be spent on responding to this, and how that money should be spent.

Should it be for unlimited hotel stays and housing? Should it be on legal support and finding migrants jobs, making it easier for them to get hired once they have some asylum seeker status in the United States? This is very complicated and it's very expensive. I can see how this certainly will become a tax issue, especially how this money is ultimately spent.

Brian Lehrer: Anything more on that, Rebecca? I think we're hearing from the two candidates, "This one raised your taxes. That one will raise your taxes." Where are you on that?

Rebecca Lewis: There are a few things that Long Island residents care more about than taxes. They have very high property taxes, among the highest in the nation. There's a reason that Tom Suozzi was a champion for repealing the SALT deduction cap. It is one of the biggest issues for Long Islanders. How their taxes get spent and how they're able to manage their budgets, how they're able to operate in the economy, it's a big issue for Long Islanders, especially homeowners. Whether it's related to the migrant crisis and how funds are being used, whether it's the SALT cap, whether it's [unintelligible 00:21:56].

Brian Lehrer: They agree. I imagine they agree on the SALT cap, that that should be repealed, federal and state tax deductions on your federal income taxes, that that should not be capped at $10,000. I imagine they agree in lockstep on that. Yes, Rebecca.

Rebecca Lewis: That's a pretty bipartisan issue for Long Island Republicans, especially suburban lawmakers in Congress. Suozzi, he's able to campaign and say that I helped to get this passed in the House in the past, but we had a Republican Senate and we couldn't get it passed in the Senate. He's able to actually point to his specific advocacy, even in lockstep with former Representative Pete King, who recently was very unhappy to see himself featured in a pro-Suozzi ad because they had--

I forget which specific issue it was that they had joined on to introduce legislation, but it is certainly a very bipartisan issue. I don't think that you could get elected on Long Island if you said, "I don't believe we should repeal the SALT cap."

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Now, when we continue after our break, we're going to get into the Middle East as an issue in this race. We're going to get into Pilip's voting record as an issue in this race that Suozzi is raising. Apparently, Pilip won't say who she voted for for president. I'm curious if she's been asked, I haven't seen it, where she is on MAGA and Trump going forward. We'll get into that. Just before we take the break, [unintelligible 00:23:35] listeners we'll get your calls and more of your texts. 212-433-WNYC. Jane in Port Washington in the district, we see you. You'll be the next caller. 212-433-9692, call or text.

Just to follow up on what you were just saying, Rebecca, before we go to the break, on Suozzi being very much running on his bipartisanship. I've seen mailers from him that's all about that. Some of his TV commercials are all about that, Mr. Bipartisan. He was in that caucus called the Problem Solvers Caucus when he was last in Congress, which is bipartisan. It's there to, in part, distinguish Democrats like him from the more progressive wing in the party and Republicans from the more MAGA wing of their party.

Do you know if Pilip has been asked if she would join the Problem Solvers Caucus or if she would join the Freedom Caucus or how she would position herself in that respect as a Republican in Congress?

Rebecca Lewis: Whether she's specifically been asked, that I'm not aware of. I'm not sure if Nick is aware of that specific question that she's been asked or if she's commented on. As far as I know, I'm not too sure if she's been asked or given a specific answer on that.

Brian Lehrer: Nick, any idea? Is she running more as a Republican stalwart and less of, "If he's Mr. Bipartisan, Mr. Problem Solvers Caucus in this district, I'm Ms. Problem Solvers Caucus in this district"? Or is she running more like on, "Hey, the Republicans have it right, that's why you want to elect me"?

Nick Reisman: Really quickly, I would have to imagine that-- Well, one, I don't know if she has been asked this yet. She has actually given only a handful of interviews, to be honest. I would imagine if she were to be elected to Congress, she would fall in line with a number of the other House Republicans from Long Island, guys like Anthony D'Esposito and Nick LaLota, who have not necessarily been problem-solver-style Republicans but have been Republicans who represent suburban swing districts who are not necessarily fans of the Freedom Caucus of the right wing of the House GOP Conference.

They are the guys who "want to get stuff done," want to get some accomplishments done, such as repealing that SALT cap, support for 9/11 first responders, stuff that does have that bipartisan sheen to it, I think. Given how well the Long Island delegation so far has worked together, since George Santos, of course, I would be surprised if Pilip doesn't necessarily fall into that category if you were to win.

Brian Lehrer: We'll continue in a minute with Rebecca Lewis from City & State NY, Nick Reisman from Politico New York, your calls and texts, more clips. Stay with us.

[MUSIC - Marden Hill: Hijack]

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC as we follow the race in the 3rd Congressional District in New York for the open seat that's open because fabulous George Santos was kicked out. This is a real swing district for those of you not familiar. Biden won it in the presidential election in 2020, but Santos as a Republican won it in 2022. The candidates to replace George Santos are Republican Mazi Pilip and Democrat Tom Suozzi, who used to hold the seat.

Remember, he vacated in order to run in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2022 against Kathy Hochul. He ran to her right in that Democratic primary, but of course, lost. Now he wants his old job back and go back to the House seat that he vacated and that George Santos took. We're talking about it with Rebecca Lewis from City & State NY and Nick Reisman from Politico New York.

Just to clear up one little piece of shorthand that we've been using in our conversation because I see a listener is writing in to say, "What are you saying? Are you saying SALT tab? What's that?" When we talk about the SALT tax, SALT is an acronym. It stands for state and local tax, and it's the SALT tax deduction cap. Until the Trump tax law revisions, state and local taxes were deductible on federal taxes up to however many state and local taxes you pay. They put a cap on that of $10,000.

For a lot of people who are homeowners on Long Island and a lot of New Jersey, other places, they pay a lot more than $10,000 a year in state and local taxes and that's no longer deductible. Under Trump and the Congress at that time, it was really a tax hike on people in those circumstances. All the members of Congress from Long Island, no matter what party, and all the candidates from most of New Jersey as well and some other places with similar economics, are very much for repealing the SALT tax deduction. Just to explain that a little more fully.

Another issue, of course, is the Middle East. Mazi Pilip is an Ethiopian Jew who lived in Israel, former Israeli Defense Forces member, and then came here. Here is Suozzi responding to a question about his opinion on the conflict on NY1.

Tom Suozzi: I have to be inhuman not to feel sympathy for so many people that are suffering both in Israel and in Gaza, but Hamas must be stopped.

Brian Lehrer: We know Pilip's personal background, Rebecca, but are they different at all in their actual policy positions on the war? Does Suozzi support Biden in calling for more restraint by Israel, which Biden does, and Pilip does not support that, or anything you could pinpoint there?

Rebecca Lewis: No, for the most part, they are very similar. Suozzi is very adamant about having no conditions on aid to Israel. Really, anything else there is of minimal importance. Suozzi is distinguishing himself from some members of his party who have begun to say, "We should be putting some conditions on our aid. We should be telling Israel that they should be more careful in how they approach the war with Hamas. They should be giving more humanitarian aid to the civilians of Gaza."

He's very adamant that there should be unconditional aid, that talking about conditioning aid is abhorrent, that we shouldn't be talking about that. He is fully supportive of Israel 100% no matter what. If he has made comments that are a little bit more nuanced about whether Israel should be showing some more restraint, it's possible I've missed them. I think that the heart of his stamps on this is unconditional aid, and if you call for conditions like some members of my party, you are wrong.

I think that that's really the most important part. Pilip is similar. Unconditional aid for Israel, continuing to send aid, really supporting Israel. I think, in substance, there isn't really much of an issue where maybe Suozzi would be more willing to say, "I'm with President Biden and how he's choosing to approach this." Whereas, I'd imagine that Philip would not go so far as to say Biden is taking the right approach.

Brian Lehrer: Jane in Port Washington, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jane.

Jane: Hi. Thank you for taking my call. As a sidebar, I just want to reiterate what you just did say about the SALT tax and that that is not going to be any better under a second Trump administration, but that's not why I called. I called because I think experience has to matter. Boy, we sure don't hear very much about that. I know that Ms. Pilip is a member of the Nassau County legislature, and I hear from my own county legislature that she never says one word in those meetings. She has no prior political election experience.

I think that's a factor that really should be taken into account. She seemingly follows Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, and everything that he says, especially when it comes to Hofstra President, who put out a statement that was perfectly okay, not one word wrong, and he condemned it, well, because she doesn't like the idea that a huge gambling thing will be put up in next door to Hofstra University.

Ms. Pilip has gone along with Bruce Blakeman. There's just so many things where she's been pushed into that role by the Republican chair, and he just wants to see a purely read thing and that's why she's not doing any of debates that Tom has asked her to do. I find it just, "Wait, wait, does she have any reason to be here in this role?" Tom Suozzi certainly does. He does have great experience. He's worked very hard on the SALT tax. I don't know. I just think--

Brian Lehrer: In fairness, Jane, if there was a relatively rookie candidate who you agreed with on the issues, would experience matter as much to you or would you think, "Huh, fresh face, let's give this person a shot"?

Jane: If she was running or he running for the county legislature, yes, I would, not for the Congress of the US. No, I'm sorry. Experience does count, I believe.

Brian Lehrer: Jane, thank you very much for your call. Here's one more clip of Suozzi, and it relates to what Jane was bringing up. This raises the issue that Pilip won't say who she [inaudible 00:34:26] since becoming a citizen of the United States.

Tom Suozzi: After George Santos, quite frankly, when nobody knew what the truth was about George Santos, I think people have the right to have a candidate that's transparent, that we can really find out what they're all about. Either she voted for Donald Trump and she doesn't like that idea, or she voted for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, and she doesn't want her base to know about that.

Brian Lehrer: Or she didn't vote at all, but is that true what Suozzi says there, Nick, Pilip won't say who she voted for for president?

Nick Reisman: Right. Actually, my colleague, Jason Beeferman, when he interviewed Pilip a couple of days ago, asked her, "Why won't you even talk about who you voted for in that election?" Pilip said, "I'm trying to focus on my election and future elections. I'm not going to talk about what happened two years ago." I'm not necessarily sure that is something that voters who are going to be scrutinizing this election are necessarily going to buy, especially for, say, the base of the party, the Democratic party, which remains deeply skeptical, if not vehemently opposed to another Trump presidency.

Pilip is really trying to sidestep this as much as possible given that President Biden so handily won that district last time around.

Brian Lehrer: Listener texts, "Seems to me like 90% of Mazi Pilip's public events and statements are about Israel. It's important to me as a Jew," writes this listener, "but she seems unconcerned about any other issue, and is frankly insular. It doesn't seem like she's even trying to reach out to other communities." Signed Rick from Manhasset. Do you think that's a charge that sticks, Nick?

Nick Reisman: I don't necessarily think that's necessarily accurate or fair at this point. I mean, we still have a few more weeks. We've got about a month to go until this election is actually held. There is going to be some more time for Pilip to roll out what she plans to do. She has been talking about that migrant crisis, about the cost of living, and the affordability concerns, which has become the favored buzzword for both Republicans and Democrats in this new year.

It's not like she's trying to run fully on her biography. I think Republicans know that after being burned by the George Santos experience that you cannot fully run on someone's biography, that you have to run on these issues. We'll see what happens over these next four weeks, but I suspect there are going to be some additional issues that Pilip and Republicans will be rolling out, especially when it comes to the cost of living, inflation, and those affordability concerns.

Brian Lehrer: She has been open about being a registered Democrat because she first registered as a Democrat when she first registered to vote but being one of those ex-Democrats who feels like the party left her as she puts it, and so has been running as a Republican for Nassau County legislature and now here. I'm curious, Rebecca, if she's been asked if she thinks President Biden was legitimately elected or if she thinks Donald Trump has the character to be president again.

Rebecca Lewis: To reiterate what Nick had said about her not talking much with the press, I don't believe that she has been asked that. Again, it's possible I missed it. She's certainly not offering that proactively. She has given minimal interviews to the press. Her public appearances have been minimal and she, as we talked about, wouldn't say if she voted for Donald Trump.

If she has been asked about it, I would have to imagine that she gave a diplomatic non-answer if anything, but I don't believe that I've seen whether she's been specifically asked about the legitimacy of the 2022 election. Like I said, I would imagine that if she was asked about it, she would give, as I said, a diplomatic non-answer if anything.

Brian Lehrer: Do you know if she's been asked about race or spoken about it at all? She's Black. She talks about antisemitism, which is clearly an issue as a Jew and just as a person, but she is also a Black person. Has she talked about racism or taken any positions on how to bring more racial equality? Where will she be on Martin Luther King Day?

Rebecca Lewis: I'm not sure where she will be on Martin Luther King Day. I will say, certainly, her Jewish identity has taken center stage, but it is true that she is also Ethiopian. She is African. She is a Black woman. That is a factor in this race that I think that perhaps has not gotten as much attention. Republicans, in some ways, took a chance on her candidacy, not just with her relatively limited political background, but with a profile, let's say, that you might more expect to see of a Democrat.

Long Island, I don't want to say has a "race issue" per se, but certainly her race, I think, will play a role in the election that perhaps has not been thoroughly analyzed yet. The district certainly does not have a large Black community or a large African immigrant community either. I think that there is a possibility that some voters might be hesitant to vote for someone who has a background like hers who might otherwise resonate with the messaging of Republicans.

I do think that it is perhaps intentional that she's focusing more on and that Republicans are focusing more on the fact that she is an Israeli American who grew up in Israel, a former soldier, and Jewish as opposed to specifically the Ethiopian part of her background, where she did spend the first, I believe, about 12 years of her life-

Brian Lehrer: She says 12, yes.

Rebecca Lewis: -before she came over to Israel as a refugee. That certainly is a part of her identity that comes up specifically a little bit less than some of the other parts of her identity.

Brian Lehrer: To wrap it up on this issue of Pilip not doing much media or only doing friendly media, I've seen her on FOX LOCAL, FOX National, and Newsmax, I haven't seen her elsewhere, and not accepting debates, which has been reported in Newsday. Listener writes, "I am a CD 3 resident, Congressional District 3 resident", that's the district, "and Mazi Pilip is my county legislator. In her prior runs for office and in this one, she makes sure to speak only to friendly audiences, and she largely avoids one-on-one debate. That tactic has worked for her before, but it's not the way democracy is meant to operate." Says this listener.

Nick, are there any televised or other debates scheduled between Mazi Pilip and Tom Suozzi?

Nick Reisman: Suozzi definitely has been pushing for one. Not a day goes by that I don't get some email from Suozzi campaign and from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee pointing out that Pilip has not agreed to a debate yet, either on the local network television or News 12. I think Suozzi, right out of the gate, agreed to three debates. I could be wrong about that, but he wants multiple debates. He feels like he's good in a debate format, and he would be effective in that style of campaigning.

I can't necessarily speak to Pilip's strategy here, other than it is not atypical for many politicians to feel like they will get a better shake and a fair shake on friendly media outlets. We see that frequently with Republicans; we also see it frequently with Democrats too. Pilip is obviously trying to target a certain kind of voter in the 3rd Congressional District, someone who watches local network television like Fox, someone who watches Fox News or Newsmax, and would be motivated based on watching that interview to go out and vote for her.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, it's a turnout strategy rather than a persuade the middle swing district voter, swing voter strategy, I guess. I'm going to tack one more on here, even though I said that was the last question because a listener just wrote one in that I think is really relevant. This also, I think, you're going to say, "I don't know," because you haven't seen Pilip asked, but it says, "She never says one word about Ukraine. Her husband is Ukrainian. I know her husband is Ukrainian. I've seen her say that on television."

Do you know if she or Suozzi have positions on more military aid to Ukraine, Rebecca? Then we're out of time.

Rebecca Lewis: That is a good question. I will say I'm not sure. That certainly has not been a focus for either of their campaigns. Suozzi has been putting out his campaign plans, and it's possible that he's mentioned it in one of them, but it's certainly not part of his stump speech. Pilip, also, from the limited interactions that she's had with the media in interviews, I don't recall her ever talking about Ukraine. I think that would be a good question for either of them next time they talk to the press.

Brian Lehrer: There we leave it with two members of the press covering the Tom Suozzi, Mazi Pilip race to replace George Santos in the 3rd Congressional District in Queens and Nassau County. We thank Rebecca Lewis, senior state politics reporter at City & State NY, and Nick Reisman, who covers New York state government and politics for Politico New York and is co-author of their morning newsletter called New York Playbook. Thanks both so much.

Rebecca Lewis: Thanks, Brian.