Suozzi has advice for Biden, Democrats after special election win

Tom Suozzi said issues everyday Americans feel — like the economy and infrastructure — are what drive the “middle group” of America.

Rep. Tom Suozzi has some tips for his Democratic House colleagues and President Joe Biden: Don’t run from tackling the nation’s border woes.

Fresh off a critical special election win on Long Island earlier this month, Suozzi was sworn in Wednesday to the old seat he held for three terms before it was won by George Santos.

“The president should lean into that immigration issue — and I think he’s doing that,” Suozzi said Thursday morning to a room of roughly 15 reporters near the Capitol. “He should lean into the immigration, and he should say, ‘Okay, we have a bipartisan deal on the table. It’s been negotiated by very reasonable people. Why are you not going forward with them?’”

Suozzi’s bellwether victory can serve as a blueprint for both parties in critical suburban races where moderates will likely determine who controls the House in 2025 and who will run the White House.

During his campaign, which was the result of Santos’ expulsion in December, Suozzi touched on otherwise taboo topics for Democrats. He campaigned on fixing the border, and he even criticized Biden’s age — something many Democrats wouldn’t dare touch.

And while he didn’t offer any criticism of the president as he returns to Washington, Suozzi did indicate that the migration issue isn’t one Democrats should shy away from. Suozzi won in a district that straddles Long Island and Queens, and the surge of migrants to the city has been top of mind for voters.

His Republican challenger, Mazi Pilip, tried to pin the problem on Democrats and Suozzi, but he was able to effectively counter the GOP’s strategy. He won by a solid 8 points in a nationally watched — and expensive — race.

His victory narrowed the GOP’s House majority to a mere two seats, and he plans to run for a full term in November in a slightly reconstructed district approved this week that Biden won four years ago with 55.7 percent of the vote.

“President Biden should be doing what President Clinton did, which is take the issue they’re attacking you on, make it your own,” Suozzi said in regards to immigration. “Pursue a bipartisan, moderate, objective — and as the Republicans go along with it, then we all move forward as a country.”

And if Republicans don’t go along with it — like the aftermath of a failed Senate bipartisan border deal — Suozzi urged Democrats to ask them directly: “Are you just weaponizing this issue for political purposes?”

Suozzi is not likely to stop discussing immigration any time soon. Democratic Minority Leader, and fellow New Yorker, Hakeem Jeffries announced Suozzi will serve on the House Homeland Security committee.

“I knew people were pissed off about the chaos of the border. And there was no way I was not going to talk about what I heard people talking about,” Suozzi said. “Polling did show that it was a very big issue. It didn’t give me the answers as to what I should do, but it was certainly a big issue.”

With Biden’s State of the Union address only a week away — where the president is likely to push his message of “finishing the job” — Suozzi said Biden should point to his victory in getting a bipartisan infrastructure bill approved in 2021.

“The president should be making his case that he’s changed a lot of policy in America related to infrastructure,” Suozzi said. “We’ve always talked about the need for a massive infrastructure bill in America. We’ve never really gotten something of this magnitude before.”

And Suozzi said issues everyday Americans feel — like the economy and infrastructure — are what drive the “middle group” of America. The Long Island Democrat tied his win to talking to voters outside the base of the party. And Suozzi added it’s the key to winning in 2024.

“I think anybody who wants to win, has to lean into the group of people in America, that middle of America,” Suozzi said. “If you ever want to get those folks, you better talk to them about what they actually care about. Because they’re not going to just vote party line. They’re gonna vote based on who’s responding to my concern.”