By Kwasi Osei-Amankwah<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feb 9 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GREAT NECK \u2014 New York\u2019s 3rd con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal dis\u00adtrict will hold a spe\u00adcial elec\u00adtion after Con\u00adgress removed its rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive, George San\u00adtos, due to evi\u00addence of fraud and libel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elec\u00adtions in the dis\u00adtrict usu\u00adal\u00adly hap\u00adpen in Novem\u00adber, like most oth\u00ader elec\u00adtions. But New York\u2019s third con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal dis\u00adtrict recent\u00adly saw a his\u00adtoric event when Con\u00adgress vot\u00aded 311\u2013114 to expel Rep. San\u00adtos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will lead to an emer\u00adgency elec\u00adtion on Feb 13 to fill the vacant seat. This is the first time a mem\u00adber of Con\u00adgress has been oust\u00aded from the House with\u00adout a pri\u00ador con\u00advic\u00adtion since the after\u00admath of the Civ\u00adil War. Some mem\u00adbers who vot\u00aded to keep San\u00adtos argued that his expul\u00adsion could set a bad prece\u00addent for future Amer\u00adi\u00adcan pol\u00adi\u00adtics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Unit\u00aded States Depart\u00adment of Jus\u00adtice revealed that San\u00adtos had applied for and received unem\u00adploy\u00adment ben\u00ade\u00adfits while he was employed and run\u00adning for Con\u00adgress dur\u00ading the COVID-19 pan\u00addem\u00adic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was also dis\u00adcov\u00adered that he had used cam\u00adpaign con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtions to pay off per\u00adson\u00adal debts and buy design\u00ader cloth\u00ading. The North Shore Leader, a Long Island news\u00adpa\u00adper, first report\u00aded this, but the pub\u00adlish\u00ader, Grant Lal\u00adly, was not avail\u00adable for com\u00adment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The out\u00adcome of the upcom\u00ading elec\u00adtion will have a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant impact on the 3rd con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal dis\u00adtrict of New York and the entire nation, espe\u00adcial\u00adly with the pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial elec\u00adtion approach\u00ading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democ\u00adrats have called for the nom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion of Tom Suozzi, the for\u00admer dis\u00adtrict rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive, to run for re-elec\u00adtion after los\u00ading to San\u00adtos. Mean\u00adwhile, the Repub\u00adli\u00adcans have nom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded Mazi Pilip, a reg\u00adis\u00adtered Demo\u00adc\u00adrat, as their can\u00addi\u00addate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jef\u00adfrey Ladewig, a polit\u00adi\u00adcal sci\u00adence pro\u00adfes\u00adsor at the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty of Con\u00adnecti\u00adcut, described this event as \u201chis\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal.\u201d When asked if Con\u00adgress\u2019 deci\u00adsion was jus\u00adti\u00adfied, he empha\u00adsized the unques\u00adtion\u00adable pow\u00ader wield\u00aded by Con\u00adgress and backed their deci\u00adsion, say\u00ading, \u201cIn essence, what does \u2018jus\u00adti\u00adfied\u2019 mean? It was up to Con\u00adgress to estab\u00adlish their cri\u00adte\u00adria. They have the author\u00adi\u00adty to remove some\u00adone they deemed need\u00aded to be removed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This removal from office before a crim\u00adi\u00adnal con\u00advic\u00adtion sets a unique prece\u00addent, rais\u00ading ques\u00adtions about the cri\u00adte\u00adria Con\u00adgress employs in such deci\u00adsions and how the San\u00adtos case will affect future gov\u00adern\u00adment mem\u00adbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ladewig also com\u00adment\u00aded on San\u00adtos\u2019 elec\u00adtion despite fac\u00ading fraud accu\u00adsa\u00adtions, high\u00adlight\u00ading the impor\u00adtance of jour\u00adnal\u00adists in deliv\u00ader\u00ading accu\u00adrate infor\u00adma\u00adtion to the pub\u00adlic to avoid such sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions. He also men\u00adtioned the rise of polit\u00adi\u00adcal per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adi\u00adties as a rea\u00adson for San\u00adtos\u2019 elec\u00adtion and empha\u00adsized the respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty of vot\u00aders to research and elect offi\u00adcials who rep\u00adre\u00adsent them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cit\u00adi\u00adzens of the 3rd con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal dis\u00adtrict must reassess their ini\u00adtial choice and choose a new rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive, an unprece\u00addent\u00aded sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion trig\u00adgered by extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary cir\u00adcum\u00adstances. Despite the uncon\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal tim\u00ading of the elec\u00adtion in the mid\u00addle of win\u00adter, res\u00adi\u00addents, includ\u00ading col\u00adlege stu\u00addents, must remain vig\u00adi\u00adlant and well-informed as they pre\u00adpare to cast their votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cit\u00adi\u00adzens of the 3rd con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal dis\u00adtrict, known for its award-win\u00adning school dis\u00adtricts and being a com\u00admuter town near New York City, must choose a rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive who aligns with their val\u00adues, aspi\u00adra\u00adtions, and ethics. While the dis\u00adtrict has his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly swung both ways, Tom Suozzi is cur\u00adrent\u00adly lead\u00ading the polls as the favorite to retake his seat in the House, with only a 4\u2011point lead over Pilip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GREAT NECK \u2014 New York\u2019s 3rd con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal dis\u00adtrict will hold a spe\u00adcial elec\u00adtion after Con\u00adgress removed its rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive, George San\u00adtos, due to evi\u00addence of fraud and libel.<\/p>\n
Elec\u00adtions in the dis\u00adtrict usu\u00adal\u00adly hap\u00adpen in Novem\u00adber, like most oth\u00ader elec\u00adtions. But New York\u2019s third con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal dis\u00adtrict recent\u00adly saw a his\u00adtoric event when Con\u00adgress vot\u00aded 311\u2013114 to expel Rep. San\u00adtos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":993,"featured_media":57,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/files\/2024\/09\/FullSizeRender-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/993"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/58"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/kwasi-osei-amankwah-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}