Democrat Tom Suozzi has won a special election in New York for the seat in the US House of Representatives that was left vacant when Republican George Santos was expelled from Congress.

Suozzi defeated Republican Mazi Pilip to retake a seat he held for three terms before giving it up to run, unsuccessfully, for governor.

The victory shrinks the slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives and gives Democrats a much-needed victory in New York City’s Long Island suburbs, where the Republican Party showed surprising strength in recent elections.

During his campaign, Suozzi, a political centrist, has taken up some of the same issues that Republicans have used to bash Democrats, calling for stricter U.S. border policies and a rollback of New York laws that make it harder for judges to detain criminal suspects pending trial. He is likely to reassure Democrats that they can perform well in suburban communities across the country, which will be critical to the parties’ efforts to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives and re-elect the president.

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Biden.

The unusual midwinter elections became necessary after Santos was ousted by his colleagues in December, halfway through his first term.

Santos won office in what had been a reliably Democratic district in part by falsely portraying himself as an American success story, a son of working-class immigrants who turned himself into a wealthy Wall Street dealmaker.

But many elements of Santos’ life story were later exposed as fabrications, and he was indicted on multiple charges, including allegations that he stole money from Republican donors. He has pleaded not guilty.

With no time for a primary before the special election, Democrats nominated Suozzi, a political centrist well known to voters in the district.

Republican leaders turned to Pilip, a relatively unknown candidate with a unique personal backstory.

Born in Ethiopia, Pilip was part of a community of 14,500 black Orthodox Jews who were airlifted to Israel in 1991 to escape civil war and famine. She was twelve at the time. Pilip later served in the Israeli army and then moved to the US after marrying a Ukrainian-American doctor in 2005. She became a U.S. citizen in 2009 and was elected to the Nassau County Legislature in 2021.

The short campaign was dominated by issues of abortion, immigration and crime, which are expected to be crucial to this year’s rural suburban races in the battle for control of Congress.

Despite once being an international migrant himself, Pilip Suozzi hammered the influx of asylum seekers into New York City, accusing Democrats and Biden of failing to secure the US southern border.

In response, Suozzi spent much of the campaign talking about the need to strengthen border policies, pointing to moments when he confronted his own party on the issue while in Congress. In the latest stretch, Suozzi said he would support a temporary closure of the border to slow arrivals, similar to comments Biden has made.

Suozzi counter-attacked Pilip on abortion, saying she could not be trusted to protect abortion rights in places like New York, where it is still legal.

Pilip said she personally opposes abortion but would not force her beliefs on others and would oppose any effort by Congress to impose a nationwide ban. She has also said mifepristone, an abortion drug, should be available nationwide.

Both candidates expressed unwavering support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas, even appearing side by side at an unusual joint event intended to convey solidarity.

Democrats and Republicans will have another chance to battle for seats in Congress in November’s general election, even though the battlefield may look different.

That’s because the state’s congressional districts will be redrawn again in the coming months under a court order. Democrats, who dominate state government, are widely expected to try to chart more favorable lines for their candidates.

New York is expected to play a major role in determining control of Congress this year, with competitive races in multiple contests in the suburbs and suburbs around New York City.