The contest to determine the Democratic nominee in the impeached Republican representative. Jorge Santos’ the seat is getting busier by the day.
Zak Malamed, a Democratic Party activist and nonprofit co-founder from Great Neck, New York, Announced his candidacy for New York’s 3rd Congressional District on Monday.
“I never really imagined that the most dishonest MAGA Republican would represent me in my own congressional district,” Malamed told HuffPost, “and that just really inspired me and motivated me to step up and help and serve.”
“When you see that your home, your family or the people close to you are struggling, you really have two options,” he added. “You can run and avoid them, or you can help, and I choose to step up, help and serve at this time.”
Malamed, 29, is the co-founder and CEO of the next 50a group that raises money to elect the youngest democrats to the public office. Malamed describes himself as a “common sense Democrat,” who identifies with the views of the pro-business New Democrat Coalition.
Three other candidates have already entered the Democratic primary: Nassau County lawmaker Josh Lafazanformer state senator anna kaplan and law professor will murphy.
Other Democrats who could still enter the race include public relations executive Robert Zimmerman, who lost to Santos in November, and former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D), whose decision not to seek re-election allowed Santos to run in a vacant seat on last election cycle. .
New York’s third is one of four House seats in the Empire State that Republicans flipped in November. Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn is already leading the charge to make sure Democrats retake those and other New York seats, though it’s unclear if he or the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee plans to pick front-runners in the party’s primary.
“I am also a Democrat capable of building bridges across the ideological spectrum of the left.”
-Zak Malamed
Still, the Democrats running in the 3rd. Democrats. Speaking to HuffPost by phone Monday, Malamed took a veiled jab at Zimmerman; Lafazan, who lost his 2022 primary bid to Zimmerman; and Kaplan, who lost his state Senate seat to a Republican in November.
“I don’t think we can take the chance of betting on someone or a campaign that lost to George Santos, or George Santos’ MAGA cronies on Long Island and Northeast Queens,” he said. “We need a new face.”
Of course, Santos is unlikely to be the Republican nominee in the district, which includes a long stretch of Long Island’s north shore and a sliver of northeast Queens.
Though the scandal-plagued lawmaker is seeking re-election, he now faces a federal indictment for fraud, money laundering and other charges. Santos, who insists on his innocence, has refunded more donations than it has raised so far.
The revelation last December that Santos had he made his resumeand the subsequent report on his alleged scam from investors in a business venture, had the entire Long Island Republican establishment condemn him and vow not to support his re-election bid.
kellen curry, a military veteran and former vice chairman of JP Morgan, a Wall Street megabank, has already declared his intention to challenge Santos for the Republican nomination. Other possible Republican contenders include the state senator. jack martins (R) and Nassau County Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip.
Asked how the seat would change in the absence of a foil like Santos, Malamed noted that many of the Long Island Republicans who lined up to condemn Santos now supported him in his 2020 and 2022 congressional bids.
Those Republicans are “trying to fool the voter and pretend that we are suddenly going to forget that they are the ones who made George Santos the MAGA sensation he is today,” Malamed said.
If elected, Malamed wants to focus on lowering the cost of living for his constituents by fighting to remove the cap on state and local tax deductions (SALT) and encouraging the construction of more homes. New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) failed in his budget to force suburban communities with restrictive zoning laws to build more housing, but Malamed envisions a more cooperative approach that produces results.
Malamed, who has also advocated for greater student participation in education policy, hopes to join the House foreign affairs and education committees.
In keeping with the swing-vote character of a prosperous district that President Joe Biden won by eight percentage points in 2020, Malamed strikes a moderate note on many of the hot-button issues of the day. For example, he supports universal health care coverage, but not “Medicare for All,” and Biden’s narrow student debt relief plan instead of a blanket cancellation of debts.
“I really oppose all forms of extremism,” he said. “I see myself as pro-growth, pro-public safety, pro-public education… But I’m also a Democrat who can build bridges across the ideological spectrum of the left.”
Malamed does not rule out accepting donations from corporate political action committees and did not say whether he wants to undo the 2018 financial deregulation law that the Federal Reserve has said it made it more difficult to prevent the recent wave of bank collapses.
Instead, Malamed said he supported applying “more scrutiny” to banks.
Malamed, who is Jewish, said he plans to be a strong supporter of US-Israel relations, including opposing tougher conditions on US aid to the Jewish state. Malamed’s grandmother immigrated to Long Island from Israel, and her parents were among the state’s pioneer founders.
Nonetheless, a supporter of Biden’s re-election bid, Malamed plans to convince voters of the advantages of electing a younger Democrat to Congress at a time when the advancing age of many party leaders has drawn criticism. .
“He promised to be a bridge from one generation of leadership to the next,” he said. “And I hope that when people vote the ballot in 2024, they will literally see it on their ballot.”