Pro-Mazi Pilip PAC drops $1.35M Super Bowl ad rapping ‘soft’ Tom Suozzi
A super PAC supporting Republican House candidate Mazi Pilip is unloading on Democrat rival Tom Suozzi with a new TV ad that will be shown during Sunday’s Super Bowl — two days before the Feb. 13 special election to replace expelled ex-Rep. George Santos.
The 30-second spot, costing $1.35 million and paid for by the Secure New York State PAC, claims Suozzi is “soft on illegal immigration and tough on taxpayers.”
The ad points to Suozzi raising taxes by “hundreds of millions of dollars” when he was Nassau County executive, and getting a fat pay raise while in office.
Last month, Secure NYS PAC — which has received donations from a committee founded by former Long Island Rep Lee Zeldin– ran six-figure radio and digital ads slamming the Democrat as “Sanctuary Suozzi” and trying to paint him as a “rubber stamp” for President Biden.
Suozzi previously served three terms in Congress, including during Biden’s first two years in office.
“Can you afford Tom Suozzi in Congress?,” the narrator says. “Tom Suozzi: soft on illegal immigration but tough on taxpayers.”
“As Nassau County Executive, Tom Suozzi froze wages for cops while taking a 60% pay raise for himself. He’s dreamt up nearly half a trillion dollars in new property taxes, new energy taxes, and a massive $450 billion dollar wealth tax to pay for Joe Biden’s open border agenda,” said Arie Lipnick, executive Director of SecureNYS.
National Republicans are playing catch-up to aid Pilip, with the Suozzi campaign and national Democrats pouring millions more dollars into the race.
Suozzi’s record of hiking property taxes when he was Nassau County executive is well documented and has come up in previous campaigns.
In 2016, the Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact rated Republican claims that Suozzi raised taxes by more than $200 million while county executive as accurate.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan county committee had proposed the raises for Suozzi as well as local legislators in 2007.
The Suozzi camp dismissed the ad.
“For two months Mazi Pilip has offered nothing of substance and has only proven that she’s committed to grandstanding with extreme Republican Party bosses when it comes to the border crisis and lowering taxes,” said Suozzi senior campaign adviser Kim Devlin.
“Meanwhile, Tom Suozzi was just one of 18 Democrats to vote to fund ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], has steadfastly supported the compromise border bill and built a bipartisan coalition to fix the SALT cap that passed the House three times. Suozzi is a problem solver and Mazi Pilip is a problem maker.”
Suozzi and the House Democrats’ Majority PAC have their own TV ads up to get their last licks in against Pilip.
In one campaign ad, Suozzi looks into the camera and says “I’m proudly in the middle.”
Read more of The Post’s coverage on the special election to replace George Santos:
- Mazi Pilip, Tom Suozzi stump on final day of early voting in race to replace George Santos in Congress
- Republican known for political upset predicts another shocker in Suozzi-Pilip race for George Santos’ seat
- Mazi Pilip warns voters not to buy Tom Suozzi’s moderate claims: ‘This is part of his game’
- Mazi Pilip scores police union backing ahead of tight House special election to replace George Santos
- Mazi Pilip, Tom Suozzi clash over abortion, border during first debate in race for George Santos’ House seat
Another spot produced by House Democrats seeks to tie Pilip back to Santos, pointing to lawsuits involving her family business and back tax woes, called her an “ethical nightmare.”
“Same story. New name,” the narrator says, showing pictures of Santo and Pilip. “Mazi Pilip is about to embarrass us again.”
