Santos predicts replacement will be Democrat or ‘a Democrat in Republican skin’

Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) said in a post online that his replacement in New York’s 3rd Congressional District will either be a Democrat or a “Democrat in republican skin.”

“America which ever way it goes you will get a Democrat or a Democrat in republican skin coming to Congress from NY-03,” Santos posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Santos was removed in a historic vote last week, ending his 11-month tenure in Congress and making him the sixth lawmaker ever to be ousted from the House. He was booted from Congress just weeks after the House Ethics Committee’s report found there was substantial evidence that he committed serious federal crimes.

Since leaving office, Santos has taken to posting online, particularly in popular Cameo videos going for several hundred dollars. In his post Wednesday, he gave his supporters and New Yorkers an update on what to expect about his successor.

“I put up a joking, very sarcastic endorsement the other day and I think some of you took it serious so let me make this clear, Mike Sapraicone is a prolific Democrat donor who donated almost $40,000 to Tom Suozzi’s gubernatorial primary campaign in 2022,” Santos said in a video attached to the post. “Just last year, while I was running for Congress, he was nowhere to be found donating to Republican’s significant funds, but he was donating $40,000 to Tom Suozzi.”

Sapraicone is a retired New York Police Department detective, and announced in July that he would be challenging Santos for the Long Island seat. Santos said “the alternate candidate,” Mazi Pilip, a county legislator, “happens to be elected as a Republican, however a registered Democrat since 2012.”

 “So, in general, the Nassau GOP is going to nominate either a Democrat or a Democrat donor to replace me,” he said. “Let that sink in.”

Santos urged his followers to tell Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joe Cairo that they deserve better than that.

Days after Santos’ expulsion, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced the special election to fill Santos’s seat will be held Feb. 13. She issued a proclamation Tuesday setting the date for the race to determine who will represent the district for the remainder of the term, leaving the GOP conference in a tight spot with its already slim majority.

Santos’s former district voted for President Biden in the 2020 election by about 8 points, signaling that the special election could be a pickup opportunity for Democrats. If the special election were to go to a Democrat, it would further tighten Republicans’ majority in the House.