George Santos Trades Barbs With Suffolk GOP Leader

LONG ISLAND, NY — Former congressman George Santos, who was expelled from the house last year over ethics violations and is facing a criminal trial, traded barbs with Suffolk's GOP chairman Jesse Garcia this week over the latter's comments on his decision to bow out of the race for the 2nd Congressional District as an independent candidate.

Garcia says the embattled former congressman's decision to cease his campaigning was "not unexpected."

"His announcements since the State of the Union are all for the purposes of his hunger for celebrity," Jesse Garcia told Patch. "He wants to continue his infamous 15 minutes of fame going and the people of Suffolk County and Long Island have had their fill of this clown car show."

Santos on Tuesday announced in a post on his X account that he decided to call it quits, and doesn't want his run to be portrayed as reprisal against incumbent U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota, a Republican from Amityville who holds the seat he was seeking.

"Although Nick and I don’t have the same voting record and I remain critical of his abysmal record, I don’t want to split the ticket and be responsible for handing the house to Dems," he wrote.

"It is clear that with the rise of antisemitism in our country we cannot afford to hand the house to Dems as they have a very large issue with antisemitism in their ranks."

Staying in the race "all but guarantees a victory" for the Democratic party, he wrote.

"I have meet (sic) with leaders and with constituents and I have made the decision to hang it up here and stop perusing (sic) this race, THIS YEAR!," he continued.

"The future holds countless possibilities and I am ready, willing and able to step up to the plate and go fight for my country at anytime (sic)."

He goes on to say that he will continue to take part "in the public policy discussion" and will do his "part," adding, "I will always strive to stand on the right side of history."

"It’s only goodbye for now, I’ll be back," he concluded.

In a phone interview with Patch Friday, Santos said he assumes his desire to continue to be in public office is not "because of anything other than the desire to serve — unlike [Garcia] and Nick LaLota" and it "just brings to question what is their actual agenda for the people of Long Island and Suffolk County."

When asked if he had any comment about the legal case in which he faces fraud charges in federal court, he said that there's a lot out there already, but there's nothing to disseminate regarding anything legally.

"I think that's not prudent," he said.

He also commented on his future.

"Second of all, as far as my opinion and in the future — I'm 35 years old," he said. "I will be around for a very long time. I have a desire to public service. I have a calling to public service. I'm not going to want to stop being a public servant. I might come back into the arena of elected office one day, whether it's, you know, Congress or something else."

"But the reality is that they can't stop me and they can't stop my record," he said.

In response to Santos' take on his own motive to run for office, Garcia described the people of Long Island as being finished with Santos' "circus."

"Nick LaLota has served his country both on aircraft carriers as a naval veteran from the Naval Academy and now fights for Long Island every minute of every day on the floor of the House of Representatives," he said.

"I'm proud that, if there's one word to describe the hard work of the Suffolk County Republican committee member it's winning," he said.

Patch has reached out to LaLota for comment.

Speaking in general in relation to Santos, Suffolk Democratic party Chairman Rich Schaffer said that the former congressman doesn't tell the truth "ever."

"I mean 'ever' in capital, bold letters," he said. "So no one can ever figure out why George Santos does what he does. And as to whether or not he would have split the vote, I never took him seriously from when he said he was first going to run because he's a pathological liar."

"And all of this is really just to figure out how he gets the reality show or book," he added.

Democrats former CNN political commentator and journalist John Avlon and Nancy Goroff, the former chair of Stony Brook University’s chemistry department, have announced bids against LaLota, and are running in the Democratic June primary, Newsday reported.

Santos first sought a Republican primary against LaLota, but announced in March that he was opting to campaign as an Independent.

A spending bill approved by the House had led to Santos leaving the Republican party.

"After today's embarrassing showing in the House I have reflected and decided that I can no longer be part of the Republican Party," Santos wrote on X at the time. "The Republican Party continues to lie and swindle its voter base. I in good conscience cannot affiliate myself with a party that stands for nothing and falls for everything."

Santos' tenure in Congress was controversial from the start.

Not long after his taking office after his 2022 election, it came to light that his background was fabricated. He was expelled from Congress in December 2023 while facing 23 federal fraud and conspiracy counts.

At the time of his announcement to run in the 1st Congressional District, he wrote, "I will take my Ultra MAGA/Trump supporting values to the ballot in November as an Independent. I'll see you boys in November!"

Santos' trial is expected to begin in September.

Jerry Barmash contributed additional reporting to this story.