(JNS) In a special congressional election to fill the vacated seat of disgraced Republican George Santos, Ethiopian-born Israeli-American Mazi Pilip, running as a Republican, lost on Tuesday, Feb. 13 to three-term congressman Tom Suozzi, as Democrats picked up a critical House seat in New York’s 3rd congressional district.

The race, won by Suozzi by a larger-than-expected margin, is looked at by many as a bellwether of November’s general election. U.S. President Joe Biden had won the district by eight points in 2020 before Republicans flipped it in 2022 amidst a red wave largely confined to the New York suburbs.

It also has immediate consequences, as Suozzi will eat into the narrow House Republican majority.

The district, covering parts of Nassau County and Queens, pitted Pilip, a second-term Nassau County legislator and relative novice, against Suozzi, a seasoned Washington veteran and former Nassau County executive, who most recently launched a failed gubernatorial challenge against New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat.