Daily Kickoff
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we examine the key takeaways from the NY-03 special election results, and report on the reaction of major Jewish groups to the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Mike Pompeo, Johnny Olszewski Jr. and Amy Schumer.
Former Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate Democrat, comfortably won a closely watched New York special election on Tuesday night, narrowing the GOP’s thin majority in Congress and giving Democrats a needed morale boost heading into the 2024 elections, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
Suozzi defeated Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip, a Nassau County legislator and an Ethiopian Israel Defense Forces veteran who ran a conventionally conservative campaign despite her unique background. Despite both parties pouring millions into the race, Suozzi won by an eight-point margin, 54-46%; the race was called not long after polls closed.
In a Long Island district that’s been trending Republican, Suozzi showcased the effectiveness of a centrist campaign, touting a tough stance on border security (despite facing ample attacks on the issue from Republicans) and promoting his strong support for Israel while criticizing the far-left, anti-Israel Squad members within his party.
Pilip wasn’t helped by the House GOP’s dysfunction over the last week — in a moderate-minded suburban district where compromise and pragmatism are politically popular. House Republican leaders’ decision to oppose a military funding bill for Ukraine and Israel that comfortably passed the Senate — a position Pilip shared — probably didn’t aid her prospects in a New York City-area district where isolationism doesn’t sell particularly well.
Suozzi also benefited from being a familiar face as a former congressman in the district with high name identification. Pilip boasted a compelling profile on paper as an outsider with an American dream story, but wasn’t as accessible on the campaign trail and avoided regular interactions with the press. Public polls showed Suozzi winning a notable share of the Republican vote in the district.
Democrats should feel good about what Suozzi’s victory says about the 2024 political landscape. Even though Biden carried the district by eight points in 2020, Republicans have dominated Long Island politics ever since. GOP gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin easily won the district in 2022, a win that brought former Rep. George Santos into office. In the last three years, Republicans have swept every major office in Nassau County.
All the GOP victories were fueled by state Democrats’ lurch leftward on issues like crime and immigration. Suozzi’s campaign was something of a course correction against those progressive excesses.
One major takeaway from the special election: The party that comes across as closer to the mainstream will have an advantage this year. Suozzi’s lengthy record of moderation, and willingness to go after his party’s left-wing activists, helped him make the sale to swing voters. It’s a lesson the Biden White House will be watching after the congressman’s big win.
Back in Washington, the House voted, with a one-vote margin, to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — on its second attempt. The historic impeachment, the first of a Cabinet secretary in nearly 150 years, was opposed by several Jewish community groups.
William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod that the impeachment effort and ensuing Senate trial are a “distraction” that “does not serve the interest of the country,” given the heightened threat level since Oct. 7.
“I also think, since a conviction requires a two-thirds vote, which definitively will not happen, that this exercise is a waste of time. I look forward to Secretary Mayorkas being able to clear this off his desk and to continue to focus on ensuring that the homeland is secure,” Daroff continued.
Daroff said Mayorkas has been “an excellent Homeland Security secretary” who has been “very attentive to the needs of the Jewish community,” and whose department has “been out front and proactive in securing us” at a time of greater threat to the community.
Daroff echoed other Jewish groups in saying that there are a “plethora of conspiracy theories, many of which have antisemitic origins, antisemitic implications, that are wrapped into the verbiage that’s been a part of this process” and that “antisemitic elements… have been personally directed at the secretary.” “It’s ironic but it actually makes sense that those elements would target Secretary Mayorkas because he has been so vigilant in trying to stem hate,” Daroff said.
Asked about House Republicans’ near-unanimous votes for the impeachment effort, Daroff responded that “it’s a political season and, unfortunately, the politics of the moment seem to have the day.”

the trump effect
Republican hawks turning more isolationist as Trump reasserts influence over party

Tuesday morning’s vote on the Senate floor, which saw more than half of Senate Republicans vote against aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, crystallized the emerging isolationist instinct in Republican politics, which is now drawing in even some of the party’s most committed foreign policy hawks, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Gabby Deutch report.
Origins: It’s a trend that seems primarily driven by former President Donald Trump’s “America First” ideology, which has been embraced by much of the Republican grassroots base — a fact that several lawmakers who opposed the aid bill acknowledged in floor speeches. Trump has long been dismissive of the U.S.’ NATO commitments — and is now urging lawmakers to restructure military funding to U.S. allies in the form of a loan.
Growing pattern: The stunning opposition of hawkish Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — a close ally of Trump — to aid to Ukraine and Israel captured headlines in Washington on Monday, but other once-stalwart pro-Israel, pro-Ukraine Republican senators are following a similar path and voted against the security aid package.
Cotton’s comments: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) accused Democrats of failing to seriously pursue border policy, forcing Republicans’ hands against the bill, and lambasted the relatively small proportion of non-military spending included in the bill as handouts to Hamas terrorists and left-wing environmental and social causes. While voting against the bill, he blamed “Joe Biden’s failures and his weakness” for crises around the globe. “After four months we saw that the Democrats are more ideologically invested in open borders than they are a secure border or for that matter, aiding our friends around the world,” Cotton said on the Senate floor. “If this bill doesn’t pass into law, it should be a template for the future and hopefully legislation that might come back to us from the House. However, the bill still includes $19 billion in nondefense spending.”
Israel impacts: Robert Greenway, director of the Allison Center for National Security at the Heritage Foundation, told JI that there are fundamentally different considerations at play in supporting aid to Israel versus Ukraine. Israel relies on Washington more than Ukraine does, he argued. “When it comes to military and financial support for Israel, the U.S. is it. We’re it. There is nobody else,” said Greenway. “Even though it’s the subject of much debate, for Ukraine that’s clearly not the case. There is a broader constellation of European partners and allies that are and will continue and should continue to provide more support to Ukraine. That’s not the case for Israel.”
Read the full story here.
Bonus:The New York Times’ Bret Stephens reflects on the implications of the GOP’s isolationist turn.