Election Day snow storm hits as candidates make last minute pitch to replace disgraced Santos

Both candidates battling to replace former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. expressed optimism on the eve of an election that has garnered national attention.

"I feel confident heading into the special election day because our campaign has resonated with voters," Mazi Melesa Pilip, the Republican nominee in New York's 3rd Congressional District Special Election, told Fox News Digital.

"I feel really good. A lot of enthusiasm, very exciting, thousands of volunteers," Pilip's opponent, former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, told Fox News Digital.

Suozzi and Pilip are coming down the stretch of a campaign with potential national implications, with Republicans looking to hold on to a key suburban New York City district amid a trend of Democratic gains in the suburbs in recent elections.

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Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican Mazi Pilip met face to face in the first and only debate, which aired Thursday night, in the special election for New York’s 3rd Congressional District. (Getty Images)

Both candidates have made their closing arguments, with Pilip continuing to send a message that she is the candidate of border security and law enforcement while Suozzi touted his experience as a bipartisan deal maker.

"My campaign is focused on securing the border, cleaning up the sanctuary city mess, fixing the broken economy and keeping neighbors safe," Pilip said. "Voters who want secure borders, safe communities and economic prosperity will vote for me on election day."

"I am the agent of change in this race because Washington is dysfunctional," Suozzi said. "My campaign and whole career has always been about working across party lines to get things done… that's what people want, that the change they're looking for."

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The two candidates, echoed a similar sentiment during the lone debate of the campaign last week, which became heated as both shouted over each other in a back-and-forth battle.

"She has no solutions whatsoever," Suozzi said of his GOP rival during the debate, according to a report from Politico. "Just there’s a problem, there’s a problem, oh, by the way, it’s a really big problem. That’s not enough. That’s not how you govern."

Pilip, on the other hand, sought to paint her opponent as a party insider who would toe the line for Democrats.

"You know the difference between me and you?" she said. "You are a talker. I am the person who will deliver."

Despite gains in suburban support in recent years, Democrats have struggled to loosen the tight GOP grip over this affluent Long Island district, which has seen voters express concerns over growing crime and increased illegal immigration. The immigration issue has taken on even more prominence over the last year as migrants from the southern border have been bussed to New York City and the surrounding area by the thousands.

Former Rep. Tom Suozzi speaks during a campaign rally at the Polish National Home in Glen Cove, New York, on Sunday, February 4, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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While Republicans have typically had an advantage with voters concerned about immigration and border security, Suozzi attacked Pilip's opposition to a bipartisan Senate border bill that he claimed would "close the border."

"She says she’s concerned about the border, but she opposes the bipartisan solution that would actually close the border," Suozzi said during the debate, according to Politico.

The debate jabs come as some voters have already made their way to the polls for early voting, with that data seemingly backing polling data that called for a close race. According to early voting data release by the New York City Board of Elections Thursday, a total of 29,913 voters have already cast their ballots.

Mazi Melesa Pilip and former Rep. Peter King, second from right, during a news conference in Massapequa, New York, on Dec. 15, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Broken down by party affiliation, 12,767 of those voters were registered Democrats, while 10,434 were registered Republicans. Another 5,636 were unaffiliated with either party, while over 1,000 more were classified as other.

As election day nears, a winter storm is bearing down on the Northeast and could hit hard right before voters head to the polls on Election Day. According to a report from the New York Times, the storm could bring up to a foot of snow to some areas in the region, with the storm starting Monday night ahead of the election slated for Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the candidates made their closing arguments to voters on the eve of the election.

"Securing the borders and keeping families safe are my top issues in the special election for Congress," Pilip told Fox News Digital.  "All of the police unions have endorsed my campaign, and none have backed Suozzi because they know that I will work to keep families safe and they also know that Tom Suozzi is part of AOC’s Squad, which wants to defund the police."

"My opponent is just taking the extreme talking points of the Republican Party and refusing to negotiate," Suozzi told Fox News Digital, citing Republicans who refused to negotiate on the bipartisan border deal.

"I am really the agent of change here," Suozzi added.