Northeast snowstorm pounding New York threatens Election Day turnout for Santos House seat

A winter storm with predictions of as much as 8 inches of snow in the Northeast could limit turnout Tuesday in the close special election for the seat previously held by ousted New York GOP Rep. George Santos.

The Third Congressional District race between Republican Mazi Pilip and Democrat Tom Suozzi is reportedly neck-and-neck.

The district covers much of Nassau County and parts of northern Queens.

“As close as this race has been and after the millions of dollars that have been spent, the election might be decided by the weather gods,” Lawrence Levy, dean of the national center of suburban studies at Hofstra University and a longtime observer of Long Island politics, told the New York Post.

Some said the storm could give Suozzi, a former three-term congressman, an edge for the open seat because thousands more Democrats than Republicans have turned out during the nine days of early voting.

The district leans Democrat but Santos, expelled in December 2023 over ethics issues, won the seat in 2022. Democrats retaking the seat would cut into Republicans' already narrow House majority.