Action talks louder than words. You cannot rely on what any politician claims on what they shall do after they get elected.
In the upcoming special election for NY CD3, between the old-time politician Tom Suozzi and the Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilip, you may wish to look at their histories and previous accomplishments.
Pilip has a short history of serving the community. Yet she had two years of dedicated work and attention to her constituents.
However, from his history, it seems that Mr. Suozzi’s political goals supersede the safety of his campaign audience and his duty of servicing his constituents.
Jay Jacobs, New York Democratic Chairman, who has endorsed Gov. Kathy Hochul’s bid for re-election, accused Suozzi of “abusing the system” during the gubernatorial primaries, according to the SPECTRUM NEWS article: Rep. Suozzi, running for governor, cast few in-person votes.
“It’s one thing to say that you’re doing your job. It’s quite another to be out campaigning, and you know, gaming the system to get your job done” according to the article.
Congress enacted oProxy voting” early on during the coronavirus pandemic.
That was intended to allow the members of Congress to quarantine and another person to vote on their behalf.
The act was for safeguarding against the spread of disease. It certainly was not intended to be abused for other purposes, avoiding attending the Congress sessions and instead use the opportunity for going on campaign trails for a new office.
“Of the 125 roll call votes in the House since Jan. 10, Suozzi voted by proxy 118 times, according to a Spectrum News 1 analysis” the article mentions.
Suozzi’s use of proxy voting to free up time for campaigning seems egocentric and is unwarranted.
The embedded video (https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2022/04/20/rep–suozzi–running-for-governor–cast-few-in-person-house-votes) enumerates the dates when Mr. Suozzi has gone on campaign trails addressing large audiences during the pandemic.
If the spread of coronavirus was a true concern of Mr. Suozzi for not attending the sessions of the Congress, he shouldn’t have gone campaigning gathering large audiences and potentially causing further spread of disease.
Evidently, Mr. Suozzi’s political goals supersede the safety of his campaign audience and his duty of servicing his constituents.
The Wikipedia page on Tom Suozzi reconciles the assertion of Suozzi’s “gaming the system” made by the Democratic Chair, Jay Jacobs.
In 1993 Suozzi started as the mayor of Glen Cove.
Later on as the county executive, under his administration, Nassau County became the highest taxed county in the nation.
In 2006, while functioning as the Nassau County executive, he ran against Elliot Spitzer in the hopes of getting the Democratic nomination for governor of New York. Suozzi had no success and lost the nomination.
In 2009, after not being able to get nominated for governor, he ran for his re-election as the county executive. Suozzi did not have success and lost his position to Ed Mangano.
In 2013, he claimed that Mangano was “presiding over a decline in the county,” and ran against Mangano. Again, Suozzi didn’t have success and lost to Mangano with a wider margin than the previous time.
In 2016 he got elected to Congress and was reelected in 2018 and 2020. In 2022 Suozzi “retired” from Congress to run again for the Democratic nomination for governor of New York. Suozzi did not have success again for even getting nominated for NYS governor, seemingly the dream job.
After Congress expelled George Santos, Suozzi decided to go after the “old job”which he had “retired” from, NY Congressional District 3.
This is the very same job which he clearly exhibited having no interest in holding onto —- he was absent 118 out 125 times of the voting sessions.
Instead of dedication to his constituents, Suozzi went on campaign trails while neglecting the spread of coronavirus which was a major concern. This clearly demonstrates his lack of dedication and now he wants the job back!?
Nonetheless, it takes a lot for a party chairman to assert “gaming the system” about the party’s long-time politician and invalidating him.
Vote for Mazi Pilip. She is a true public servant.
During her tenure as the Nassau County legislator, Mazi Pilip has shown true dedication to her constituents. Unlike Suozzi, with no exceptions, she had voted for lowering taxes.
Gary Giltner
Great Neck