The race to replace George Santos will be a sprint - Spectrum News

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Friday’s expulsion vote in the House of Representatives marked the end of George Santos’ time in Congress — and the start of a sprint to replace him.

“The clock has started ticking,” Gov. Kathy Hochul told NY1 in an interview Friday.

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What You Need To Know

• Gov. Kathy Hochul has 10 days to declare a special election to replace George Santos, which will then take place in mid- to late February


• The Democratic and Republican nominees will be chosen by local party leaders, with Gov. Hochul also expected to have significant say


• Nassau County Democratic leader Jay Jacobs said there are three or four “serious candidates,” including former state Senator Anna Kaplan and former Congressman Tom Suozzi

• Jacobs said a Democratic nominee could be announced by Tuesday, and Republicans leaders said they would announce their candidate in “the very near future”

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Hochul now has 10 days to declare a special election, which must then take place 70 to 80 days later — or sometime in mid- to late February. Democrats see it as a critical pickup opportunity as they seek to reclaim control of the House and put one of their own in charge.

“Job number one for us in New York is to make sure that Hakeem Jeffries is the speaker of the House of Representatives next January,” Hochul said. “So I’m focused on that. We have to get a good, quality candidate.”

Hochul will have a major say in choosing the Democratic nominee, and so will the local county leaders: Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks and Nassau County Chairman Jay Jacobs.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Jacobs said in an interview Friday.

Jacobs said there are three or four “serious candidates.” That includes former state Senator Anna Kaplan and former Congressman Tom Suozzi, who held the seat before Santos, but gave it up to challenge Hochul last year, bucking his own party.

“I don’t think it’s an added bonus for him, I will tell you that,” Jacobs said. “And I was one, as you might remember, that was very vocal in asking him not to run.”

Still, he said, Suozzi brings certain advantages to the table. Candidate screening was already underway Friday, Jacobs said, with a decision coming as soon as Tuesday.

“I think we’ll win it,” Meeks said. “I think it’s not going to be easy.”

Despite the Santos fiasco, Republicans said they like their chances, given recent victories across Long Island.

“Long Island is a bright shade of red,” said Long Island Congressman Anthony D’Esposito, “in places, in cities, in counties, in towns that we haven’t had strongholds in sometimes 25 years.”

Nassau County Republican Chairman Joe Cairo said in a statement that the party is conducting interviews and will announce its candidate “in the very near future.”

“The Nassau County organization is probably one of the strongest, not only in New York, but in the country,” said Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, who represents Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn.

Both parties agree the race will draw national attention and national funding.

“There will not be a voter in Nassau County, or Queens, for that matter—I can guarantee you—who on election day will turn around and say, ‘oh really, it’s an election?’” Jacobs said. “They would have to be six feet under not to know that there’s an election going on.”

February’s special election will be followed a traditional party primary election in June.

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