In October 2023, Suozzi announced that he would run for his old congressional seat in 2024.[5] After Congress expelledGeorge Santos that December, a special election to fill the remainder of the term was scheduled for February 13, 2024. Suozzi was selected as the Democratic nominee,[6] and then won the special election, reclaiming the seat for Democrats.[7]
Early life and education
The youngest of five siblings, Suozzi was born on August 31, 1962, in Glen Cove, New York.[8] His father, Joseph A. Suozzi, who was born in Ruvo del Monte, Italy, was an attorney and served as Glen Cove mayor from 1956 to 1960. His mother, Marguerite (née Holmes), of Irish and English descent, was an operating room nurse at Glen Cove Hospital.[9][10][11]
Suozzi returned to the private sector from 2010 to 2016, working as an attorney of counsel at Harris Beach, and as a consultant for Cablevision and Lazard.[15][16] After initially leaving Congress, he became co-chair of Actum LLC, a global consulting firm.[17]
Early political career
Mayor of Glen Cove
In 1993, Suozzi was elected mayor of Glen Cove, New York. He served as mayor for four terms.[18] His father and his uncle, Vincent Suozzi, were mayors of Glen Cove before him.[19]
As mayor, Suozzi focused on environmental cleanup of commercial and industrial sites, and redeveloping brownfield and superfund sites.[18] In 1994, the Glen Cove incinerator was permanently closed and dismantled.[20] In 1998, the city demolished and redeveloped the defunct Li Tungsten Refinery grounds, a federal superfund site.[21][22]
Suozzi was elected Nassau County Executive in 2001, becoming the first Democrat elected to the position in traditionally Republican Nassau in 30 years.[23] He assumed office amid a fiscal crisis. By 1999, Nassau was on the brink of financial collapse: the county faced a $300 million annual deficit, was billions of dollars in debt, and its credit rating had sunk to one level above junk status.[24] According to The New York Times, he "earned high marks from independent institutions for his signature achievement, the resuscitation of Nassau's finances."[25]
While in office, Suozzi cut spending and reduced borrowing and debt. He also oversaw 11 county bond upgrades over two years, eliminated deficits in Nassau, and accumulated surpluses. In 2005, Governing Magazine named him one of its Public Officials of the Year, calling him "the man who spearheaded Nassau County, New York's, remarkable turnaround from the brink of fiscal disaster."[18][25] According to The New York Times, he garnered praise for social services like his "no wrong door" program, which centralized access to social services.[25]
Suozzi narrowly lost the 2009 county executive election to Ed Mangano. After working in the private sector as an attorney, he announced that he would seek a rematch against Mangano in 2013.[26] He attacked Mangano for "presiding over a decline in the county" while also emphasizing eight years of balanced budgets and reduced crime while he was county executive.[27] In November 2013, Mangano defeated Suozzi by a much wider margin of 59% to 41%.[28]
Suozzi declared his candidacy for governor of New York in the Democratic primary against Eliot Spitzer on February 25, 2006. Few prominent Democrats apart from Nassau County Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs supported his bid; most of New York's Democratic legislators and mayors campaigned for Spitzer. One of Suozzi's biggest supporters was Victor Rodriguez, founder of the now disbanded Voter Rights Party. Rodriguez eventually became the lead field organizer for his Albany campaign office. The campaign was funded in part by Home Depot co-founder Kenneth Langone, former NYSE CEO Richard Grasso, vice chairman of the MTA David Mack, and many people on Wall Street whom Spitzer had investigated and prosecuted.[8]
On June 13, 2006, Suozzi spoke before the New York State Conference of Mayors along with Spitzer and John Faso. He received a standing ovation from the crowd of mayors.[29] On July 6, he announced to his followers that he had collected enough petitions to place himself on the primary ballot. During a debate, he said he had presidential aspirations.[30][31] On August 7, after much speculation, he announced that he would not seek an independent line were he to lose the primary.[32]
Spitzer defeated Suozzi in the Democratic primary with 81% of the vote to Suozzi's 19%.[33]
On November 29, 2021, Suozzi announced his candidacy for governor of New York in the 2022 election.[34] He strongly opposed a proposal by Governor Kathy Hochul to permit homeowners to add an accessory dwelling unit (such as an extra apartment and backyard cottage) on lots zoned for single-family housing.[35] The proposal was intended to alleviate New York's housing shortage and make housing more affordable.[36] He said that he supported efforts to tackle housing problems, but that he was against "ending single-family housing".[36][37]
Suozzi placed third in the Democratic primary with 12% of the vote, behind Hochul and Jumaane Williams.[4][38]
As the winner of the special election, Suozzi will serve out the remainder of Santos's term in the House, which expires in January 2025.[52] According to a December 2023 Politico article, solidarity with Israel in response to the October Hamas-led terrorist attack was a top priority for the district, and both Suozzi and Pilip were "staunch supporters of Israel".[53] Suozzi and Pilip primarily campaigned on the issue of an influx of migrants into the United States.[7]
In Congress, Suozzi authored legislation to restore the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which was capped at $10,000 in 2017.[59] He orchestrated a call from the New York congressional delegation for the repeal of the SALT cap.[60] The effort was not successful, and the SALT cap remained at $10,000.[61]
Suozzi voted in favor of three military aid package supplementals for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan respectively in April 2024, along with most Democrats.[62][63][64]
In March 2022, it was reported that Suozzi failed to properly disclose another 31 stock transactions, worth as much as $885,000.[68] Two months later, it was reported for a third time that he had failed to properly disclose stock transactions he had made, this time 10 stock trades that in aggregate were between $171,000 and $515,000.[69]
When Suozzi came before congressional investigators to explain in a deposition why he had not disclosed hundreds of stock trades in a timely manner, he told investigators: "Quite frankly, we have a lot going on in Congress. I have a lot of other stuff going on. And it's just not—ethics is a big priority for me. But...the...some of the formalities are not necessarily something I make a priority of."[70] In July 2022, the U.S. House Ethics Committee said it had decided not to charge Suozzi for failing to file required reports on stock transactions on time because it was not a "knowing or willful" act. The committee said its five Democratic and five Republican members unanimously voted to dismiss the referral from the independent federal Office of Congressional Ethics.[71][72]
In December 2022, Suozzi disclosed dozens of additional stock trades that were reported up to three years past the federal deadline.[73]
Suozzi and his wife Helene (née Wrotniak) married in 1993. They live in Glen Cove and have three children.[13][14] His son Joe is a minor league baseball player who plays in the New York Mets organization.[80][81] Suozzi is Roman Catholic.[82]
Electoral history
Governor
2006 New York Democratic gubernatorial primary[83]
^ ab"Members". Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
^ ab"Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
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