Dems accuse Mazi Pilip of running a 'basement campaign' and hiding from voters

Progressive activists with MoveOn display a 15-foot inflatable of George Santos as they call for his expulsion from Congress on Capitol Hill November 28, 2023 in Washington D.C.

With less than a month to go until the special election for New York’s 3rd congressional district, Democrats are targeting Republican candidate Mazi Pilip for what they are describing as a “basement campaign.”

In an apparent effort to connect Pilip to the district’s last representative — disgraced former Republican Rep. George Santos — Democrats are going after Pilip for largely staying out of the public eye, and argue she isn’t being transparent with where she stands on certain issues, like abortion.

“Conservative Party Mazi Pilip is running a basement campaign, hiding from the press, the community, and denying NY-03 voters any transparency,” said Alisha Heng, the New York press secretary for House Majority PAC, a group dedicated to electing Democrats to the House of Representatives.

“Pilip is exactly like her predecessor George Santos, and the voters of NY-03 will not be duped again,” Heng’s Monday statement continued.

Just last week, Pilip, who is a member of the Nassau County Legislature, held her first press conference since she was nominated in December. According to her Democratic opponent, former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, earlier this month, Pilip has turned down multiple opportunities to participate in debates and candidate forums.

“While Suozzi has accepted five debate invites and will likely accept more, Pilip has only accepted a single debate on News 12, exactly five days before the February 13th special election and exactly five days after early voting has begun,” Suozzi’s campaign said in a statement issued on January 12.

Additionally, the campaign arm for House Democrats, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, announced their second television ad in the race earlier this month, which specifically focused on “how Pilip is hiding from voters,” according to a news release.

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“Mazi Pilip won’t answer questions about her agenda. Mazi left before taking any questions. She was whisked away,” the narrator in the advertisement states.

It’s a pointed line of attack in a competitive district that saw first-hand the impact of an unvetted candidate. Democrats are hoping to flip the seat during the special election that is set for February 13, as it is considered a swing district. It’s a seat that President Joe Biden won in 2020, but Santos won in 2022. However, Santos was ousted by his colleagues late last year following a House Ethics Committee report that found “substantial evidence of violations of federal law, House Rules,” among other things.

Currently, Republicans hold the majority in the House, but Democrats currently only need to net five additional seats to win the lower chamber in November. If Democrats can secure this win in February, that’s one less seat they need to flip later this year.

"Objectively, Pilip has been less available to media for someone who is a Republican nominee in a special election for an incredibly closely divided House right now," said Erin Covey, House analyst for the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. She later added: “It's Santos and obviously, his own history and lack of coverage in the district that I think is making Democrats and local media in general more sensitive to this issue."

Covey noted that the issue might not be at the front of voters’ list of priorities, but said, “it does raise questions about how she would perform when she's confronted with these questions.”

“If she's going to be a member of Congress, she's going to have to deal with media in a less-protected setting once she's on the Hill,” Covey added. “There's reporters there every day that are going to be able to try to get to her and ask her questions about whatever the news of the day is, and whatever legislation she's working on, so she's going to have to figure out how to deal with media eventually, if she does win the election.”

However, Republicans argue the criticism is unfounded and point to several interviews Pilip has done, including with Jewish Insider and Fox 5 New York.

“They're trying to say that she is not doing interviews and therefore is like Santos, well, Santos did a bunch of interviews and is a complete anomaly,” said one Republican strategist. “I don't think it's going to be an effective message.”

“I think that they're trying to change the subject and they are being unsuccessful in doing so,” the strategist later added.

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Democrats In Santos District Special Election Accuse GOP Candidate of Staying Out of Sight