Republicans and Democrats were locked in a desperate race to attract voters on Tuesday afternoon after an ill-timed snowstorm triggered the closing hours of a closely contested special House election to replace George Santos in New York state. .
Both candidates offered to pay for voters' transportation to polling places and sent campaign workers to wade through half a foot of wet snow that blanketed most of Queens and Long Island.
The House Republicans' main super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, also hired private snowplows to speed up snow removal in the party's best-suited districts, a spokesperson said. The group has already spent $5 million on the race, but did not pay for last-minute outreach efforts.
Voter turnout plummeted Tuesday morning during the heaviest snowfall, a concern for Republicans who had been hoping for an Election Day surge to offset Democrats' clear advantage in early and absentee voting. It was a sign that it should be done. But by the evening, Republicans signaled they were on the mend with a few hours left before voting ends at 9 p.m.
“For both parties who believe in divine intervention, the weather will decide whether God is a Democrat or a Republican,” Steve Israel, a former Democratic congressman from the district, joked before the dust started falling. Ta.
“And whether or not to vote in the special election,” he added.
It was a troubling development in a very close election that attracted $15 million in outside spending but was otherwise dominated by the international migration crisis.
Democrats have placed high hopes on the district, which is a wealthy, largely suburban area that voted for President Biden by an 8-point margin in 2020 and two years later between Mr. Santos and the Republican Party. It turned to
The party, which outnumbers Republicans by more than 2 to 1, nominated Tom Suozzi, a 30-year political veteran. Mr. Suozzi, a former congressman who also held the seat, promised to return his district to normalcy after the ouster of Mr. Santos, a serial liar who has been charged with 23 federal crimes. .
But Suozzi's campaign faces strong headwinds from suburban voters dissatisfied with Biden, particularly his handling of the border and New York City's immigration crisis.
On Tuesday, Mr. Suozzi greeted changing shifts at United Parcel Service workers in snow boots and planned a lunchtime appearance to galvanize canvassers trying to lure Democrats to the polls. did.
Opponent Maj Pilip was scheduled to shake hands with voters in front of Massapequa Elementary School. Schools were closed, but voting stations remained open.
Mr. Pillip, a Republican county councilman, has run a relatively low-key campaign, attacking Mr. Suozzi as an advocate of open borders while defending himself from attacks from Democrats who say he threatens abortion rights. It has expanded.
About 80,000 people had already cast their votes by the end of the early voting period on Sunday, a high turnout for an off-cycle election. According to Democratic leaders, about 11,000 more registered Democrats voted than registered Republicans. Depending on the number of voters who leave the party and the breakdown of independent voters, there is a good chance that Mr. Suozzi's lead will narrow further.
“We're better than them,” state Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs said before voting began.
Many Republican voters still prefer to vote on Election Day, and Republicans are accustomed to closing the gap. The party has won nearly every major election on Long Island since 2021, thanks in part to strong voter activity.
Former Republican Congressman Peter T. King acknowledged that the snow could cost his party a few percentage points. Still, he predicted Nassau County's recently revived Republican machine will be up to the task.
“It's really bad. It's been a long time since we've had a full-blown snowstorm,” he said Monday. “This seems to only single out voting times!”
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, 11,000 people had voted in the Queens borough of the borough on Election Day, according to the New York City Board of Elections. Nassau County's vote count, which was expected to be even higher because of its larger percentage of eligible voters, increased very slowly over several hours.
In Mr. Pillip's home town of Great Neck, only about 10 voters arrived at the Great Neck House polling place in the morning.
“I'm here to make a difference,” said one of them, Farhad Yaghoubian, 68, who works in the construction industry. He said he voted for Pilip because Pilip supports Israel.
Walter Tomkiw, an 81-year-old retired accountant, braved the weather a few miles away in Mineola. He voted for Mr. Suozzi, calling the race “probably the most important election I've ever voted in.”
“This country is at a crossroads,” he said, explaining that he sees the Republican Party as a threat to American democratic norms. “If Suozzi loses this, Joe Biden is going to be in a lot of trouble.”
Here on Long Island, we are a suburban region with a history of mixed politics and public service, rather than selectively paving the way for voters by the Republicans who control Nassau County government and each of its three townships. The Democratic Party had its doubts. That was before Republican super PACs intervened.
“Of course we're concerned about where they're plowing the roads,” Jacobs said.
Nassau County Legislature Democratic Minority Leader Delia Delighi-Whitton on Monday told Bruce Blakeman, the county's Republican leader, and others to fire county employees to help them on a “snow day.” He even wrote a letter warning people not to do so. Campaign efforts.
Blakeman countered that he was “personally offended” by Democrats questioning the administration's integrity and vowed to clean the streets fairly.
“I have directly communicated to all involved that no community will be given preferential treatment and the work should be done according to normal practice, with the exception of an early start,” Blakeman wrote.
Ellen Yang Contributed reporting from Mineola, New York. Nate Schweber From Great Neck.
