Suozzi has played a pivotal role for the Indian American community, fostering unity and diversity and strengthening ties between India and US
Our Bureau
New York, NY
Democrat Tom Suozzi won the New York congressional seat vacated by the Republican George Santos on Tuesday night. Santos was expelled from Congress in December after he was charged with more than 20 counts of fraud. This is touted as a boost for Joe Biden ahead of the presidential election. The victory narrows the slim Republican majority in the House and gives Democrats a much-needed win in New York City’s Long Island suburbs, where Republican candidates have shown strength in recent elections.
The election marks a return to Congress for the Democrat. Suozzi has already served three terms in the US House but he opted to run for governor in New York in 2022.
With a campaign slogan of “Let’s Fix This,” Suozzi reclaimed his district. “The people of Queens and Long Island are sick and tired of political bickering,” Suozzi said during a victory speech. “They want us to come together and solve problems.” New York’s third congressional district covers a diverse electorate, stretching from the New York City borough of Queens into the western suburbs of Long Island.
Suozzi, who previously spent six years in the House of Representatives before quitting to run, unsuccessfully, for New York governor, will have to run again for the seat in the nationwide congressional elections in November.
The demographic of New York’s third congressional district had made this a closely watched election nationwide. The district, seen as a political bellwether, is largely suburban and was one of 18 districts that Biden won in 2020, but which then went on to vote for a Republican House representative in 2022.
Suozzi has played a pivotal role for the Indian American community, fostering unity and diversity and strengthening ties between India and US. Suozzi’s journey began as the Mayor of Glen Cove in the 1990s, when he actively supported the Indian American Sikhs in establishing the first Sikh gurdwara in the city. As Nassau County Executive in the 2000s, Suozzi appointed many Indian Americans to high-level positions, including the first Indian American woman in New York to serve as a Deputy Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, a turbaned Sikh to serve as Deputy Commissioner of Minority Affairs, and another Indian American to serve as Commissioner of the Assessment Review Commission.
