Who will fill the expelled George Santos’s seat?
George Santos last week became only the sixth member of America’s House of Representatives to be expelled from the chamber in its 234-year history. After his ejection, the disgraced politician did what any millennial would do: monetised his infamy on social media. Calling himself a “former congressional icon”, Mr Santos is recording personalised videos—from pep talks to birthday wishes—on the website Cameo. Although he faces 23 federal criminal charges, from wire fraud to identity theft, the 35-year-old will send brief clips to just about anyone with $400 to spare.
As Mr Santos enjoys his moment of notoriety ahead of what could be years behind bars, New York’s political class has already moved on. State law requires Kathy Hochul, the governor, to hold a special election about two months after the seat has become vacant. Mr Santos represented New York’s third congressional district (which extends across part of the North Shore of Long Island) for less than a year, but his victory, along with other pickups in the Empire State, were a rare bright spot for Republicans in an otherwise underwhelming midterm election cycle.
Both parties are carefully managing expectations for the race to replace him—arguing, at least for now, that the outcome shouldn’t have much predictive value for the 2024 general election. The political climate could change drastically over the next 11 months. Yet the truncated contest could still attract tens of millions of dollars in campaign spending. Joe Biden won the district by ten points in 2020, and Mr Santos flipped the seat with a similar margin last year. A win would boost morale and donor confidence on either side.
2023-12-07 09:46:10
Source from www.economist.com