(BrightPress.org) – Republican primary candidate Nikki Haley blamed Donald Trump for a Democratic victory in the special election to replace Long Island Republican Rep. George Santos. Santos was expelled from Congress after a federal indictment and House investigation suggested financial wrong-doing.
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) will replace him, retaking a seat that Santos took from him in the 2022 election cycle. Suozzi was running for governor during the midterms and held the seat for 6 years prior. Observers have noted that he had a distinct advantage in name recognition in his home district. His Republican opponent, Mazi Pilip, is a virtual unknown.
Highlighting that her role serves to attack Trump, Haley’s campaign blamed the loss on the former president, suggesting that Pilip’s loss was somehow Trump’s fault. Pilip’s campaign failed to categorically endorse Trump and focused on the southern border crisis in the race; the seat will be up for election again this November.
Haley spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas suggested the seat was “winnable” and Republicans only lost because of Donald Trump. She also claimed that “voters overwhelmingly rejected” the former president despite him not being involved in the contest and having a dramatic lead over Haley every time they go head-to-head in an official state primary.
Trump is also ahead of Biden in the polls, despite the attempts at badmouthing the former president.
Trump suggested that Pilip’s problem was that she failed to endorse him, and attempted to present herself as a moderate instead of a MAGA Republican, in comments published on Truth Social. He also highlighted that Pilip had previously been a Democrat, suggesting that perhaps she wasn’t really trying to win at all.
The already-thin margin of control the Republicans hold has dwindled to just 219-213 following Suozzi’s election. Trump suggested the Republicans offer a “real candidate” in the November general election which would allow them to take the seat back.
The next face-off between Haley and Trump will occur in her home state of South Carolina on February 24th; surprising no one, she’s behind him in all the polls by ~30 points.
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