George Santos, Expelled And Awaiting Trial, Attempts A Comeback

 

Three months after being kicked out of the US Congress and six months ahead of a federal criminal trial date, George Santos figures it’s time for a comeback.

So the serial fabulist, whose inflated resume and far-fetched claims of connection to tragedies such as the Sept. 11 attack made him the butt of late-night comics, exercised his right as a former House member to attend the State of the Union Thursday evening and announced a reelection bid.

To add to the drama, he declared he would run against one of his fiercest detractors, fellow Long Island Republican Nick LaLota, who helped introduce a US House expulsion resolution against him.

LaLota said he laughed when a colleague alerted him to Santos’ social media posting announcing the bid while they all were on the House floor during Joe Biden’s speech.

But he was more somber the morning after.

“I wouldn’t dismiss this — a small “d” democratic process — as an annoyance,” LaLota said Friday about the potential primary challenge. “Voters have a right to choose their candidates, and candidates ought to prove to those voters why they are the better

He’s not winning a Republican primary on Long Island,” veteran New York political consultant Tom Doherty, a top aide to former three-term GOP Governor George Pataki, flatly declared.

LaLota is taking no chances. He said he spoke with Suffolk County Republican committee chairman Jesse Garcia and received assurances of full backing. The congressional district is entirely in the county.

Garcia dismissed Santos’ candidacy announcement as “bad comedy” in a statement.

It’s not clear whether Santos is serious about the candidacy. There is no sign he has gathered any of the required 1,250 signatures to qualify for the June 25 primary. Those designating petitions must be filed by early April.

Santos had not divulged by Friday morning much more about his plans.

While Santos announced the campaign with a broadside against LaLota for living outside the newly redrawn Congressional district, Santos wouldn’t confirm he has moved into it. He lived outside the district, in Queens, when he last ran for Congress.

LaLota on Friday did not dispute that he now finds himself living outside the district as a result of the recent boundary redraw. But he noted the US Constitution requires only that a House member be a resident of the same state at the time of swearing in, not a specific district.

LaLota also said he has long-standing ties to the area, where he went to high school and his wife still works.

“I’m married, I have three kids and we’re contemplating how to logistically do that,” LaLota said, of whether he intends to move into the district soon.

The Long Island district is one of a handful of Republican-held districts that will be battlegrounds this fall in the race for control of the House.

But Erin Covey, an analyst for the non-partisan Cook Political Report said the district is rated as likely Republican. And she thinks LaLota has nothing to worry about from a Santos primary challenge.

“I can’t really see a world where Santos ousts LaLota,” she said. “Santos has zero credibility with Long Island voters and GOP leaders.”