New York congressional candidate lays out 'ABCs' of next election: affordability, border and crime

Republican Candidate for New York's 3rd Congressional District, Mike LiPetri, said that there were "ABC's" that were crucial for the upcoming election.

"You have to remember your ABC's......focus on affordability, [the] border crisis and crime," LiPetri said on the "Furthermore with Amanda Head" podcast. "That for me is the biggest focus....making sure we have safe, secure and affordable communities."

The district is currently represented by Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi. The district is just north of Queens and runs across the North Shore of Long Island in Nassau County, with a population of 777,000 people, a median age of 44.2 and a median household income of $132,794.

Suozzi was elected to Congress in 2016 and was re-elected in 2018 and 2020. He left Congress in 2022 to run for governor but lost to Gov. Kathy Hochul, D, who is now facing a scandal involving ex-aide Linda Sun, who was charged on September 3 with acting as a Chinese agent. "Our client is understandably upset that these charges have been brought," Sun's lawyer Jarrod Schaeffer told Reuters after her bail hearing.

Former Congressman George Santos, R-N.Y., once represented the district but was ousted due to several legal issues and fabricating parts of his resume. After Santos was ousted, Suozzi, a Democrat, won the special election earlier this year. 

"My opponent left this seat already to run for governor," LiPetri said. "He doesn't want to be here and comes right back."

LiPetri said that the New York being run by Democrats isn't working, with crime being rampant and the illegal immigration crisis flooding the city. 

"Ultimately, we're seeing how New York state, run by Democrats.....it's just not working," he said. "It doesn't work for us as people are craving and are thirsty for a new option, a new choice and someone to vote for, not just vote against." He went on to say that a lot of the reasons everyday Americans are struggling is because the federal government mismanaged money. 

"Because of inflation you now have to work twice as hard for twice as long for the same lifestyle because the people you put in finance didn't know how to manage the money correctly," LiPetri said. "That doesn't make sense to me." LiPetri is a former state assemblyman, lawyer and former editor-in-chief of the Albany Government Law Review.

He said a major issue that is impacting New York is the migrant surge with thousands of people flooding into the city. 

Last year, Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott  implemented a policy of busing migrants to left-wing sanctuary cities in a bid to highlight the Biden administration's lax approach to border enforcement. The governor's buses sent thousands of migrants to New York City alone, though it is not clear that any were shipped to the 3rd District.

LiPetri said that Venezuelan gangs have also become empowered in New York City and have been adding to an uptick in crime. "We have a huge issue of Venezuelan gangs now increasing in Queens...they're called TDA and they are savages," he said. "They are huge problems, and this gang needs to be removed ASAP."

Earlier this week, a video went viral of an armed Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua taking over apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado. The gang was in July designated as a "Transnational Criminal Organization" by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

LiPetri said that Trump needs to be returned to the White House in 2024 if the country has any hope of making a 180 degree turnaround. 

"We need courage," he said. "We need people with the spine, and my opponent, who voted 100% of the time with Biden and said that he had an excellent three years of accomplishments, is out of his mind if he thinks that what we are today is great."