Rep. George Santos (R-NY) announced on Monday that he was filing for reelection, seemingly not too perturbed by how he is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee and fellow members of Congress having called on him to resign.
A press release proclaims that Santos "has proven to be a diligent legislator and outspoken critic of the Washington Establishment. In reference to how he's "introduced and cosponsored more bills than any other New York freshman member of Congress," the press release adds he's "proving he's here to lead and bring home RESULTS for New York." The congressman has cosponsored 63 bills.
Santos introduced his first bill on February 28, The SALT Relief Act, which would "amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the limitation on the deduction for State and Local Taxes (SALT)." As Congress.gov describes it, "This bill increases from $10,000 to $50,000 the amount that an individual taxpayer may deduct as state and local taxes."
The press release also contains a statement from Santos. "As a first-generation American, I am no stranger to the issues affecting my district. I grew up poor with a single mom, and thanks to the American dream, a poor boy of immigrant parents in Queens can grow up to serve his community in the halls of Congress," the congressman said. He also touted his electoral history. "When I ran in 2022, no one said we'd win, 'That's a safe Biden seat,' they said. Well, guess what? That D+2, Biden +10 seat I won by 8.5 points. Not only won but made history as the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress," Santos added.
Santos beat Democrat Robert Zimmerman, who is also openly gay, with 54.2 percent to Zimmerman's 45.8 percent.
"Since the Left is pushing radical agendas, the economy is struggling, and Washington is incapable of solving anything, we need a fighter who knows the district and can serve the people fearlessly, and independent of local or national party influence," the statement also added.
"Good isn't good enough, and I'm not shy about doing what it takes to get the job done. I'm proud to announce my candidacy to run for re-election and continue to serve the people of NY-3," he concluded in his statement.
Rep. Santos will be joining the DC Young Republicans for a happy hour on April 26, and enthusiastically retweeted their promotion of the event.
Reporting from The Hill notes that Santos already has a primary challenger, and could soon earn another:
Kellen Curry, an Afghanistan war veteran and former vice president at J.P. Morgan, announced a campaign for Santos’s seat earlier this month, giving the congressman his first GOP challenger.
Josh Lafazan, a Democratic member of the Nassau County Legislator, is running for Santos’s seat, and CNBC reported last week that former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) — who represented NY-3 before Santos — is considering running for his old seat. Suozzi unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022.
"Rep. George Santos" has been trending, also in part due to his introduction of seven bills, including The Minaj Act, which is named after rapper Nicki Minaj. As Semafor's Kadia Goba described the bill, it "establishes a development period for new vaccines in order to generate public confidence."