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George Santos’s Troubles The Latest House Expulsion What’s Next for Santos? His Cameo Videos Lies, Charges and Questions

Republicans Tap Israeli Military

Veteran to Run for Santos’s Seat
Party leaders believe Mazi Melesa Pilip has the potential to be a
breakout star. But she has little political experience and her policy
views are largely unknown.

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Mazi Melesa Pilip was born in Ethiopia, served as a paratrooper in the Israel Defense
Forces and ran for office the first time in 2021. Fox News, via YouTube

By Nicholas Fandos

Dec. 14, 2023

Republicans battling to hold onto the New York House seat vacated
by George Santos chose on Thursday another relatively unknown
candidate with a remarkable biography but a thin political résumé
to run in a special election next year.

After extensive vetting, Republican leaders selected Mazi Melesa

Pilip, a local legislator who was born in Ethiopia, served as a
paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces and first ran for office in
2021 vowing to fight antisemitism.

It was a bold gamble by Long Island Republicans, a group better

known for nominating older, white establishment figures.
Republicans believe Ms. Pilip, a 44-year-old mother of seven, has
the potential to become a breakout star before the Feb. 13 special
election, particularly at a moment when Israel’s war with Hamas is
reordering American politics.

“She is the American success story,” said Peter King, a former New
York Republican congressman involved in the nomination. “Some
people have superstar capacity. She walks into the room, people
notice her, they listen to her.”

Ms. Pilip, however, lacks many of the credentials typically prized in

a competitive congressional race. She has almost no experience
raising money, lacks relationships with key party figures outside
her affluent New York City suburb and has never faced the kind of
scrutiny that comes with being a candidate for high office.

In fact, beyond fierce advocacy for Israel and support for the
police, she has taken no known public positions on major issues
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that have shaped recent House contests. That includes abortion
rights, gun laws and the criminal charges against former President How Family History
Donald J. Trump. Influences Your
Drinking

A panel of Republicans from Queens and Nassau Counties voted to

nominate Ms. Pilip from among more than 20 candidates Thursday Who’s Afraid of a
Tap Dance
morning. They planned to introduce her publicly on Friday in ‘Nutcracker’?
Massapequa, two weeks after the House voted to expel Mr. Santos
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over damning findings that he fabricated his life story and Routine: A Red Lip
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Analysts have called the race a tossup.

Ms. Pilip’s relative anonymity stands in sharp contrast with her

Democratic opponent, Tom Suozzi . A former congressman, Nassau
County executive and candidate for governor, Mr. Suozzi has been
a fixture in Long Island politics since the 1990s, accumulating a
lengthy voting record. He even once held the House seat they are
competing for.

Tom Suozzi greeted voters in Levittown last week. Johnny Milano for The New York Times

The two candidates do have at least one thing in common: They

are both registered Democrats. Republicans who have supported
Ms. Pilip twice in elections for a Nassau County Legislature seat
representing Great Neck and Manhasset said they were fully
aware that she maintained that registration, calling it “irrelevant.”

In her first interview as a candidate Thursday afternoon, Ms. Pilip

would not say whether she planned to switch party affiliations, and
she declined to discuss her policy positions in depth. As a county
legislator, much of her work has been nonpartisan or local in
scope: funding roads, administering grants and overseeing police.

When Ms. Pilip was asked to state her position on a national

abortion ban, a spokesman for the Nassau County Republican
Party cut in to say that the candidate did not intend to “get through
the whole platform here.”

Ms. Pilip was ready to knock President Biden, who won the district
by eight points in 2020, for some of the nation’s thorniest
challenges, including the influx of migrants from the southern
border and the high rate of inflation she said was “destroying
average Americans.” She also suggested that Mr. Biden’s foreign
policy had emboldened Russia to invade Ukraine and Hamas to
attack Israel on Oct. 7.

“His policies are a complete disaster for the American people,” she
said.

Local Republicans subjected Ms. Pilip to extensive scrutiny ,

including by three outside research firms. Party leaders said they
had done so to avoid backing another nominee like Mr. Santos,
whose egregious lies went undetected by Republicans for years.

“Having reviewed those records, we feel comfortable that they

have done a complete background check,” Joseph G. Cairo Jr., the
Nassau Republican chairman, said. “We know everything we need
to know about Mazi.”

Ms. Pilip also distanced herself from Mr. Santos, whom she once
campaigned alongside and called an “amazing” friend , saying she
had called for him to resign shortly after his fabricated biography
unraveled.

Other finalists for the nomination included Mike Sapraicone, a

wealthy former New York Police Department detective who owns a
private security business, and Kellen Curry, an Air Force veteran
and banker.

But as a veteran of color, Ms. Pilip fits the mold of other successful
candidates Republicans have recruited across the country in recent
years. Born in Ethiopia, she has said she was among thousands of
Jews from that country resettled in Israel in 1991 as part of
Operation Solomon. She moved to the United States later, after her
military service and meeting her husband, a Ukrainian American
doctor.

She entered local politics after serving as vice president of an

Orthodox Jewish congregation in Great Neck, and many of her
public appearances have focused on defending Israel or fighting
antisemitism. Her politics appear to have evolved rightward
alongside those of other members of Great Neck’s large Jewish
community.

Any qualms about the limits of her name recognition and

experience remained private. And national Republicans quickly
endorsed the pick.

“Mazi’s incredible life of service stands in stark contrast to career

politician Tom Suozzi, who uses his office to make life better for
himself instead of his community,” said Representative Richard
Hudson of North Carolina, the chairman of the Republicans’ House
campaign committee.

Democrats, for their part, wasted little time vilifying Ms. Pilip.
Representative Suzan DelBene of Washington, Mr. Hudson’s
Democratic counterpart, called Ms. Pilip “a MAGA extremist” and
highlighted her past ties to Mr. Santos.

Mr. Suozzi did not comment directly on Ms. Pilip. He has quickly
sought to claim the race’s middle lane. He formally launched his
campaign last Saturday in Levittown in the front yard of a former
New York Police Department officer who said Mr. Suozzi was the
only Democrat he would ever support.

Flanked by dozens of supporters, Mr. Suozzi vowed to campaign

against what he called threats to the suburban American dream: a
growing affordability crisis, climate change, dysfunction in
Washington and the influx of migrants across the southern border.

“I’m a Democrat, and I’ll always be a Democrat,” he said, adding,

“But I will work with anybody who wants to work together to
actually solve the problems that people face.”

Kirsten Noyes contributed research.

Nicholas Fandos is a Times reporter covering New York politics and government. More
about Nicholas Fandos
A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 15, 2023 , Section A , Page 14 of the New York edition with the
headline: G.O.P. Taps An Unknown From Israel . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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The Lies and Troubles of George Santos

For the entirety of his public life, the first-term Republican congressman has been a
man shrouded in myths. Now, his web of lies and deceit is unraveling.

Focus of Controversy: George Santos was expelled from Congress after deceiving
voters with lies and exaggerations about his biography . Problems with his
campaign finances and personal business dealings were detailed in a report by
the House Ethics Committee .

Federal Case: Santos, who was first facing 13 felony counts now faces an ,

additional 10 charges . The new charges may place more pressure on him to reach
a plea deal.

Tracking the Scandal: Santos has told so many stories that they can be hard to
keep straight. We break down the lies, charges and questions .

The Bookkeeper: Nancy Marks, the treasurer who oversaw the finances of
Santos’s campaigns, admitted to her role in fraudulently reporting a fictional
$500,000 loan that Santos claimed to have made to his campaign.

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