Santos says he won’t vote in election to replace him

Former Rep. George Santos (R.N.Y.) said Sunday he does not intend to vote in next week’s special election to fill the vacancy in Congress left when Santos was expelled.

In an interview on CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday,” Santos told Manu Raju that he would not vote for Democratic candidate Tom Suozzi, a former U.S. House representative, or Republican candidate Mazi Pilip, a local representative. Ta.

“I have made it very clear that I will not vote in any race for the simple reason that I am not willing to vote for someone who is registered as a Democrat. Not in this day and age, and as far as politics goes, that just goes against what I believe in.”

Although Pillip is a registered Democrat, he has traditional Republican views and feels Democrats are abandoning him, CNN reported.

Still, Santos called Pilip a “Republican” and said he feared Pilip would further increase the Democratic majority if elected.

“The reality is, from my perspective, and from the perspective of many conservatives, true conservatives, here in the district, there are two Democrats on the ballot this election,” Santos said.

“And the choice is, do you get the Democratic Party or do you get the Republican-leaning version of the Democratic Party? And that’s very concerning, because the reality is that if she wins, the Republicans and the caucus “That’s very concerning because it would add Democratic seats to Congress that would do the same thing.”

Santos said he doesn’t know what will happen in the Feb. 13 race, and expects Suozzi, who once represented a variation of the redistricted district, to do better in the polls. He said that he had done so.

“Suozzi should be able to do better, given his past popularity and extensive activity in Nassau County, Long Island, and given that he has represented a variation of his previous seat, but the reality is that is not the case.” Santos said.

Santos was expelled from Congress on December 1, 2023 in a historic vote, making him the sixth lawmaker ever to be expelled from the House of Representatives.

The firing followed a scathing report from the House Ethics Committee, in which Santos faced 23 federal charges of wire fraud, identity theft and other campaign finance-related charges. He pleaded not guilty.