Former IDF paratrooper nominated for Santos’s old seat

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New York Republicans have nominated Mazi Melesa Pilip as their candidate to run in the special election for the Long Island seat vacated by George Santos.

The GOP pick for the Feb. 13 race will hold a news conference Friday in Massapequa in Nassau County. The party’s choice comes after an intensive vetting process by local leaders determined to redeem themselves after supporting Santos, the ousted congressman indicted on criminal fraud charges.

New York Democrats have chosen former Rep. Tom Suozzi, who had represented the 3rd Congressional District, to run in the special election.

The race in the district straddling Nassau County and Queens is considered a toss-up, one crucial in determining which party controls the House in 2025.

Pilip, a newly reelected Nassau County legislator, has a background that allies say perfectly fits the political moment. She served in the Israeli Defense Forces as an Ethiopian-born Jew who fled to Israel as a child.

Those familiar with the choice by Nassau County GOP chair Joe Cairo were granted anonymity to speak freely.

But Pilip and other contenders have come under scrutiny.

She is an enrolled Democrat, despite having won local elections as a Republican, POLITICO discovered.

Additionally, a POLITICO review of court records showed her husband’s medical practice, where Pilip worked as operations director, was sued in 2020 for allegedly failing to pay about $70,000 in back rent and has $500,000 still due on its lease.

“This is an ongoing lease dispute between a private business owned by Ms. Pilip’s husband and a landlord,” a Nassau County GOP spokesperson said.

A party spokesperson said Pilip was not available Thursday to be interviewed by POLITICO.

The fact that she’s a Democrat, that actually could be a plus because that is more of a Democratic district,” former Republican Rep. Pete King said in an interview.

“She’s a proven vote-getter,” he said, recounting how Pilip worked and campaigned while pregnant and after having twins. (She is the mother of seven children.)

New York Republicans — determined to avoid another Santos saga — have conducted about 20 candidate interviews with a dozen or so selection committee members sitting in on each session, several people involved in the process told POLITICO.

They’ve also enlisted the help of three outside firms to perform background checks.

A who’s who of Long Island Republicans gathered in Massapequa Friday to formally announce Nassau County legislator Mazi Pilip as their pick to take on Democrat Tom Suozzi in the special House election to replace expelled ex-Rep. George Santos.

The Ethiopia-born Pilip, a former paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces, vowed to “stand up to the extremists who want to destroy our way of life, defunding the police and weakening our criminal laws and eliminating the state of Israel.”

“I’m the only candidate in this race who can say that I have not supported tax hikes,” she added during the first official event of her two-month sprint to the Feb. 13 special vote to replace Santos, who was expelled by the House Dec. 1.

“I support funding our police, and as a result, we were able to increase our police presence in our communities. I was able to bring elected officials and community leaders together to fight hate and antisemitism at colleges. I stand with our communities in support of Israel, Ukraine, and all nations that are subject of terrorism.”

Pilip, a mother of seven who has repped the Democratic stronghold of Great Neck in the Nassau legislature since last year, was joined by former GOP Congressman Peter King and current Republican House lawmakers Anthony D’Esposito and Nick LaLota, as well as state GOP chairman Ed Cox.

“Over the last 10 months, the Long Island Four have been the Long Island Four-ish,” LaLota said in a shot at Santos. “But no more.”

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman gushed: “It’s hard for me to think of her as a real person, because it’s amazing what she’s accomplished in such a short period of time.

“She is Batgirl and Wonder Woman wrapped into one.”