Republicans have found a candidate for the Feb. 13 special election to succeed George Santos in Mazi Pilip.
George Santos was a constant headache for Republicans, starting when he was exposed as a con man shortly after winning a Long Island Congressional seat a year ago.
That continued until this month, when he was expelled from the House after publication of a searing ethics report.
But the mood among local Republicans is likely to shift now that they’ve found what appears to be a dream candidate for the Feb. 13 special election to succeed Santos.
Mazi Melesa Pilip, 44, is a two-term member of the Nassau County Legislature whose life comes out of central casting.
She was born in a poor village in Ethiopia where no house had running water.
She left for Israel at age 12 as a refugee in a program that rescued 14,000 black Jews living under an oppressive dictatorship.
At age 18, she signed up as a paratrooper in the Israel Defense Force.
After completing her service she earned a master’s degree in diplomacy and security from Tel Aviv University.
While there she married a fellow Jewish student whose family had emigrated to Israel from Ukraine and in 2005 came with him to the United States, where he completed his medical studies to become a cardiologist.
Two years ago, Pilip decided to enter politics (“You can’t just complain from outside,” she said) and ran for Nassau County Legislature in the Great Neck area, defeating a four-term Democratic incumbent by 7 points.
