Amid speculation about Santos replacement, don't forget Mazi Melesa Pilip

                                                                          

Mazi Melesa Pilip

All the talk about potential candidates to replace fabulist U.S. Rep. George Santos seem to concentrate on Democrats.

City and State just today published a list of possible Democratic hopefuls after a Democratic Congressman this week demanded --  unsuccessfully -- that Santos be expelled from the U.S. House.

Santos, of course, is the mostly unknown Republican who scored an upset victory over Democratic insider Robert Zimmerman last year in race for Nassau's North Shore 3rd Congressional District seat,  vacated by U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove).

After Santos won, the New York Times disclosed that he lied about most of his background, sparking hundreds of news stories, protests,  and, just recently, federal corruption charges.

Both Republicans and Democrats had called for Santos to resign even before he was charged by the feds with fraud, money laundering and lying about his finances.

But Santos has denied the charges and said he will not resign. He even said he will run again in 2024.

That puts Santos in the same category as most of a near dozen members of Congress of both parties who were indicted in the past but continued to serve until they were convicted or exonerated.

Republicans are rarely mentioned in the widespread speculation about who will seek the $174,000 a year job, if Santos does leave office.

Most often named are Jack Martins, a former New York State senator who was re-elected last year, defeating incumbent Democrat Anna Kaplan, and Republican Nassau Comptroller Elaine Phillips, another former state senator. 

Seldom included is Nassau Legis. Mazi Melese Pilip, a Great Neck Republican. A Politico reporter in January tweeted she may be a candidate and the Times of Israel explored the possibility in a story that month.

Maybe most of the media think the GOP could not win that seat again because of the Santos scandal.

But don't count out Pilip.

Pilip is a black, Orthodox Jew born in Ethiopia who immigrated to Israel with her family when she was 12 years ago as part of an Israeli emergency air-lift operation. She served as a paratrooper in Israel's defense forces. She received her master's degree in diplomacy and security from Tel Aviv University.

She and her American husband, a cardiologist, live in Great Neck. She has been vice president of her synagogue, Kol Yisrael Achim, and has seven children, giving birth to twins just weeks before she was elected in 2021.

Pilip upset four-term Democratic incumbent Legis. Ellen Birnbaum from Great Neck, to win the 10th District legislative seat. At the legislature, she has been a solid member of the Republican majority, participating in Republican news conferences and speaking carefully and deliberately during legislative meetings.

Pilip is running for re-election this November. But insiders say she has her eye on the Congressional seat.

“I’m not going to lie to you, people are definitely asking me to run,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an interview as she drove while shopping for Shabbat. according to the Times of Israel article. “That doesn’t mean nothing.”

Whether  Nassau Republican Chairman Joe Cairo will nominate Pilip is another question and probably depends on the timing of any Santos departure from Congress. If Santos serves out his term, and Pilip wins re-election this year, she would have a free run for Congress next year while still serving in her county seat.

Already, four incumbent legislators are not seeking re-election this year. A fifth possibly leaving could shake up the entire legislative outlook.