U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi was re-elected to New York’s 3rd Congressional District Tuesday night and defeated Republican challenger Mike LiPetri by 2.5%, overcoming a red wave led by Donald Trump across the country, who won Nassau County by nearly 5 percentage points.
National attention was drawn to Long Island as its congressional races were determined to be key in deciding which party would assume control over the House of Representatives.
This included New York District 3, with Suozzi’s win inching Democrats to taking over control of the House. As of Tuesday night, Republicans led in the House but too many seats remained unknown for a controlling party to be decided.
In Nassau County, both Democratic candidates – Suozzi and 4th District candidate Laura Gillen – were elected to the House.
“We’re pretty confident at the margins that we have, that we have elected two Democrats for the Congress,” New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs said.
Suozzi secured his win in a sweep of all three counties the congressional district encompasses, according to state Board of Elections data with all districts reported.
In Nassau County, Suozzi received 129,130 votes, 47.71%, while LiPetri got 127,719 votes, 47.19%.
In Queens, Suozzi received 35,461 votes, 51.82%, and LiPetri got 29,893 votes, 43.69%.
In Suffolk County, Suozzi received 12,597 votes, 52.15 , and LiPetri received 10,553 votes, 43.69%.
Overall, Suozzi received 177,188 votes while LiPetri fell behind with 168,165.
“The people sent a clear message that they are sick of the partisanship, they are sick of extremism,” Suozzi said in a press release following his victory. “They want us to work together to solve tough problems like securing the border and reinstating the SALT deduction. I am grateful the voters in Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens are sending me back to Congress so I can continue to fight for bipartisan common sense solutions to help make people’s lives better.”
This race follows the special election held for the seat in February to fill the vacancy left by former Republican Rep. George Santos, who was expelled from Congress after evidence suggested he had violated federal laws. He has since pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and identity theft in August and awaits sentencing.
Suozzi ran in the special election against Republican Nassau County District 10 Legislator Mazi Pilip.
Suozzi previously served as the District 3 representative from 2017-2023. He opted not to run for re-election in 2022 and instead made a gubernatorial bid but lost in the primaries to now Gov. Kathy Hochul.
His top issues in the race were immigration and public safety, restoring SALT, defeating terror and bridging the partisan divide.
“I think that we all recognize that the people in the United States of America and the people in my congressional district are sick and tired of the extremism,” Suozzi said. “They’re sick and tired of attacking each other all the time. They want us to work together and get things done.”
LiPetri is an attorney and former state Assembly member, serving from 2019-2021 as the 9th District representative.
LiPetri campaigned on the top three issues of affordability, securing the border and reducing crime in the 3rd District.
The 3rd Congressional District ranges from parts of northeast Queens across the North Shore, Mineola, Westbury and parts of Floral Park to the south, Farmingdale and Hicksville to the east in Nassau County and Lloyd Harbor and Huntington Bay in Suffolk County.
