Suozzi launches reelection bid as LiPetri heads to GOP midterm convention

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi rolled out a plan to address affordability at a reelection kickoff event Tuesday, a day ahead of GOP challenger Michael LiPetri’s planned speech at the Republican Party’s midterm convention in Dallas.

Never mentioning LiPetri by name, Suozzi also slapped at Republican efforts to tie him to the democratic socialist wing and other extreme far-left elements of his party.

"Please recognize that my race is one of the top targeted races in the United States of America," Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) told his supporters gathered in Mineola.

Republicans nationally are trying to block Democrats from a net gain of as few as three seats they need to flip majority control of the 435-member House. A key part of the GOP’s strategy is to make Democrats defend seats like Suozzi’s.

New York's 3rd Congressional District extends over parts of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens counties. Nonpartisan handicappers said the Suozzi-LiPetri rematch still leans Suozzi’s way, but could shift.

At the event, Suozzi outlined his five-point "American Affordability Plan," which includes:

• Getting rid of tariffs he said are driving up prices on groceries, cars and other materials;
• Phasing out the Iran war and prioritizing smarter diplomacy, stronger alliances and congressional oversight on use of the military;
• Paying down the $40 trillion in national debt so the federal government pays less in interest, to reduce the impacts on mortgages, car loans and credit card debt;
• Cutting red tape so energy projects can be built faster;
• Making healthcare more affordable.

Suozzi also underscored he is someone willing to fight political divisions. Flicking at the ideological warfare within his own party — and GOP efforts to link him to its far-left extremes — he said, "You know me, I’m a hard worker; not a hard-liner."

Suozzi’s event came as LiPetri, a former assemblyman from Farmingdale — along with Hempstead Receiver of Taxes Jeanine Driscoll — is set to attend President Donald Trump’s two-day GOP midterm convention this week in Dallas. Driscoll is challenging U.S. Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) for New York's Nassau County-based 4th Congressional District.

LiPetri will be among several speakers addressing the convention during Wednesday's 7 to 8 p.m. time slot, with his topics to touch on Republican efforts at tax relief, securing the border and lowering crime.

Networks have been noncommittal on coverage, but C-SPAN will air wall-to-wall coverage on TV and its website, Fox News will have a large presence with its shows airing from Dallas, and the Republican National Committee will provide livestreams on its YouTube channel.

"A little late for a campaign kickoff," LiPetri scoffed Tuesday about Suozzi’s description of his own event.

A broader theme of LiPetri’s campaign against Suozzi has been to depict him as "a career politician" who has helped raise taxes while making millions of dollars in the stock market, and frame himself as an alternative who feels what he said other Long Islanders feel: "left behind and holding the bag."

Suozzi spokesman Kim Devlin countered that the contrast, in fact, could not be clearer, given LiPetri's attendance with Trump at the Dallas event.

"Suozzi was focused on the people he represents" in unveiling his affordability plan, she said, while "his opponent was focused on the MAGA politics of his party."