U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi of Glen Cove was leading by a nearly 2-to-1 margin over two rivals in early results from Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the 3rd Congressional District.
With thousands of absentee ballots yet to be counted, Suozzi expressed confidence about the outcome while stopping short of claiming victory. He said that the final results may not be known for a week to 10 days.
The 3rd District includes Manhasset, Roslyn, Port Washington, Great Neck and Floral Park, among other areas, and stretches from Whitestone, Queens, to Kings Park in Suffolk County. The winner of the primary will face Republican nominee George Santos of Queens in November; he ran unopposed.
Suozzi, who is seeking a third term, was challenged by health care advocate and Democratic campaign volunteer Melanie D’Arrigo of Port Washington, and 9/11 first responder, former firefighter and prosecutor Michael Weinstock of Great Neck.
Early results from the Nassau County Board of Elections, which count those who voted in person and those whose absentee ballots were received by Tuesday, showed Suozzi leading the field, with 59 percent of the vote. D’Arrigo was in second place with 34 percent, and Weinstock in third with 7 percent.
Suffolk County listed Suozzi with 58 percent, D’Arrigo with 35 percent and Weinstock with 6 percent, and Queens listed Suozzi with 52 percent, D’Arrigo with 29 percent and Weinstock with 11 percent.
Combined totals from the three areas indicate that 16,815 votes have been counted so far. The Suozzi campaign gave the total as 16,447.
Absentee ballots for the primary were allowed to be postmarked until Tuesday, meaning that many votes have yet to be counted.
In a Twitter video published Tuesday, flanked by his family, Suozzi expressed confidence in being named the primary’s winner, but recognized that the absentee ballots had not yet come in.
“By an almost 2 to 1 margin, people want me to continue working together with other people across party lines to get things done on behalf of the people I serve,” Suozzi said in the video. “So I’m going to keep on doing that. And of course, we’ll have to wait for the absentee ballots to come in, it’ll take a week, 10 days to find out, but the absentee ballots always track the same as the people who voted in person, and I think it’ll actually be better for me.”
He said in a Zoom conference with reporters Wednesday morning that 60,000 requests for absentee ballots had been received across the district, with over 36,000 expected to be returned.
Suozzi also said that neither D’Arrigo or Weinstock had called to concede the race.
“I don’t think that I will [receive a call to concede],” Suozzi said. “There really was not much of a relationship with the other candidates during the campaign, kind of mean-spirited in their campaigns, I thought. So, I don’t know. It would be nice if they called me, but I haven’t received any calls.
D’Arrigo and Weinstock have not yet responded to the initial results.
