With Tom Suozzi returning to Congress, analysts in New York and across the country are looking to find a message for the upcoming national elections. Is there one there?
Let us take a look at what transpired. For one thing. Democrat Suozzi is a known quantity, a veteran and skilled leader who has always been willing to work across party lines to find solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
President Biden and Democrats have been on the defensive against a Republican attack on the vast influx of migrants who have crossed our southern border, with more than 100,000 of them winding up in New York.
Instead of trying to evade talking about immigration – which his inexperienced Republican opponent did, Suozzi leaned into the Issue to highlight the bipartisan bona fides he exhibited in his previous three terms in Congress.
Suozzi sharply criticized Biden’s handling of immigration even as he backed the bipartisan plan that came out of the United States Senate, which tightened border controls and asylum procedures, and included desperately needed support for allies in Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel.
House Republican leaders, who had called for just such a solution for immigration, then did an about face and refused to consider the bill after Trump said he preferred nothing be done.
That difference resonated with voters across the Third District. Suozzi carried the District by eight points, winning over independents, and far more Republicans than his opponent did Democrats.
With suburban districts poised again to be the deciding factor in the November elections, the message for both parties is to embrace common sense solutions, and to seek common ground on the most difficult issues to move the country forward.
While many Democrats believe that Suozzi’s victory is a changing moment, the fact is that the moderate Republican party of Nassau County remains incredibly strong and vibrant. The reality is that all three county wide offices and town Supervisors in Nassau County are Republicans. The continued extreme left wing policies of the New York City Council and the New York State Legislature will drive more democratic moderates to vote Republican. Suozzi’s victory is a credit to him and the enormous goodwill he established by his accomplishments as a two term County Executive and three term Congressman. No one should read more deeply into his victory than that.
Howard Fensterman is the managing partner of the Abrams Fensterman Law firm based in Lake Success.
