Israeli immigrant picked to run for Rep. Santos’ seat

— Republicans Thursday picked a trailblazing Black Israeli immigrant to run for the seat left vacant by the expulsion of disgraced ex-GOP Rep. George Santos, a source familiar with the decision told the New York Daily News.

Mazi Malesa Pilip, an Ethiopian-born Orthodox Jew and Israeli military veteran, will get the Republican and Conservative party nods even though she has long been registered as a Democrat.

Pilip will face off in a Feb. 13 special election against former Rep. Tom Suozzi, the moderate Democrat who held the seat until giving it up to run for governor in 2022, opening the door for Santos to win in a shocking midterms upset.

The winner will serve out the remainder of Santos’ original two-year term, which expires at the end of next year.

Suozzi will go into the race as the favorite given he won the seat three times previously and is far better known. The district, which spans the North Shore and a slice of far northeast Queens, leans Democratic and voted by 8% for President Biden, but Long Island Republicans have pulled off several recent election wins.

The swing seats will be up for grabs again in 2024 with both major parties holding primary elections and then a general election in November.

However, the NY-03 district will be reshaped to some degree after the state’s highest court ruled new lines must be drawn for all the state’s congressional districts.

Pilip, a mother of seven is a two-term Republican member of the Nassau County legislature and recently won reelection by an impressive margin.

But she has been enrolled as a Democrat since 2012.

Another potential Republican candidate, ex-NYPD cop Mike Sapraicone, took a black eye when it was revealed he donated thousands of dollars to Suozzi ‘s campaign in the past.

Former Rep. Pete King confirmed the selection of Pilip to Newsday, portraying her as the face of a new and vibrant Long Island GOP.

“Mazi is the choice,” King told the paper. “She’s going to be a great candidate. She’s really the American success story, the American dream.”

A source told the News that Republican and Conservative leaders would file paperwork later Thursday to officially place Pilip on their ballot lines for the special election. They also need to file a document authorizing a member of a rival party to stand for them.