A New York snowstorm could benefit Democrats as votes are counted to determine the successor to former Republican Rep. George Santos and the balance of power in the U.S. House.
Last night’s storm, which lingered into Tuesday, covering roads and parking lots of the 3rd Congressional District’s polling locations with up to 10 inches of snow, could bode well for Democrats, who are relying on turning the district blue in order to snag the House back from Republicans. Democratic challenger Tom Suozzi, who previously served the district, was expected to dominate the early vote, which would help his odds of securing a win, while the snowstorm could end up hurting his GOP rival, Mazi Pilip, who was predicted to prosper in the in-person voting.
Of the nearly 66,800 voters who showed up during the nine days of early voting, 30,000 Democrats voted compared to nearly 23,000 Republicans, while about 13,000 were considered “other” or “blank,” according to unofficial data from the Nassau and Queens counties election boards.
The race for the district, which spans parts of Long Island and Queens, has been close, with polls showing Suozzi leading by three to four points, according to RealClearPolitics polling averages.
But on Tuesday morning, low turnout was reported at the Syosset and Farmingdale polling locations, with 199 voters casting their ballots at the Syosset location between 6 a.m. and 11:25 a.m., NBC News reported. And at noon on Tuesday, just 2,884 people had shown up to vote in the district’s Queens area, according to the New York City Board of Elections.
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Of the voters in the district, 39% are active registered Democrats, while 28% are active registered Republicans, with a similar number of registered independents, Politico reported.
The snowstorm and low voter turnout could end up being a huge blow to Republicans who are counting on keeping Santos’s district red after the GOP secured major wins in New York in 2022 in an effort to take back the House. With Republicans’ narrow House majority in 2024, the GOP is depending on the district’s vacant seat and prominent issues such as the city’s influx of immigration and crime to sway voters to cast their ballot for Pilip.
