The Indian Panorama

Tag: Mazi Pilip

  • Tom Suozzi wins the special election for Congress

    Tom Suozzi wins the special election for Congress

    The Indian Panorama was one of  the first newspapers to endorse Tom

    February 13, 2024

    NEW YORK (TIP): Tom Suozzi won back New York’s 3rd Congressional District seat that he earlier held for three terms. He defeated his less-known Republican rival Mazi Pilip, Nassau County legislator, by a double-digit margin.

    He flipped a Republican held seat which became vacant when the disgraced George Santos was expelled from  Congress.

    CNN projected Suozzi’s victory at about 10.30 pm on Tuesday, February 13,  and said Mazi had conceded defeat.

    Even though media reports said it was going to be a close race, Suozzi prevailed easily. The contest for this congressional seat had national stakes because Republicans enjoy only a razor-thin majority in the House. Under national media glare, the contest also attracted big spending by both candidates and their parties.

    In every campaign speech Suozzi hammered home the point that amid growing polarization in the country, he is the one with a record of working across the aisle.

    Suozzi is a friend of the Indian community which has a major presence in Nassau County. He  served as Mayor of Glen Cove before being elected Nassau County Executive. He was elected to Congress from New York Congressional District 3 in 2016 , and was re-elected in 2018 and 2020. He did not contest in 2022 for the NY3 seat he held because he ran for New York State governor.

    Trained as an attorney and CPA, Tom Suozzi has committed his 30-year public service career to delivering for his constituents. His philosophy of working with anyone who shares his goal of solving problems and delivering for his constituents has guided his career and led to notable accomplishments on issues including protecting the environment, common-sense gun safety, full access to reproductive health care, immigration, caring for our veterans, affordable healthcare, and fiscal responsibility.

    The Indian Panorama was one of the first media houses to endorse Suozzi way back in early December soon after he received the Democratic nomination.

  • Scrutiny Builds Over Mazi Pilip’s Personal Finances

    Scrutiny Builds Over Mazi Pilip’s Personal Finances

    GLEN COVE, NY (TIP): In the special election to replace George Santos, Conservative and Republican candidate Mazi Pilip is continuing to face questions and scrutiny around transparency regarding her personal finances.

    Newsday, on January 24, built on recent reporting from The New York Times and revealed that Pilip disclosed substantial discrepancies between her federal and local financial disclosures, including investments around her husband’s multiple medical start-ups, as well as the salary she made from her husband’s medical practice.

    Suozzi Senior Advisor Kim Devlin released the following statement in response:

    “This raises serious questions about the lack of vetting the Republican Party bosses conduct in naming their candidates. First George Santos and now Mazi Pilip with the murky personal finances. No wonder Mazi Pilip is refusing to meet with voters. The more we learn about her the more questions it raises.”

    “Pilip, in the county filing last May, detailed investments with her husband such as a co-op and medical startups. Her campaign said disclosure of the holdings was not required on the federal report Pilip submitted recently to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, disputing the opinion of an ethics watchdog.

    On both the county and federal disclosures, Pilip also reported income earned from her husband Dr. Adalbert Pilip’s medical practice, New York Comprehensive Medical Care, despite her campaign having said she stopped working there in 2021.

    Pilip initially had reported to the House clerk earnings of $50,000 in each of the last two years from the medical practice, where she said she worked as operations director. Pilip spokesman Brian Devine has said the House disclosure was a draft filed in error. In a revised version filed days later, Pilip reported no income from the practice in 2023 and $13,472 in 2022.

    The federal disclosures said Pilip and her husband owed the Internal Revenue Service between $100,000 and $250,000 in income tax as of April 2023. The campaign has said the debt has been paid.

    The May 2023 county disclosure also listed a debt to the IRS but didn’t specify an amount or date.

    In the Nassau disclosure, Pilip said her husband was an owner or partner in three businesses besides his main medical companies listed on the federal forms. The ventures include Infuse Chi, described in a 2022 news release as “an all-natural electrolyte hydration” powder.

    Devine said in a statement the businesses “have not taken off and have no value. As such, it is not appropriate for these entities to be reported in [the federal] disclosure.”

    The county form also listed Mazi and Adalbert Pilip as owners of a co-op in addition to their home in Great Neck. Devine said Mazi Pilip’s in laws reside at the co-op, it yielded no rental income and that lawyers with knowledge of federal reporting guidelines advised the campaign that it was not subject to disclosure.

    The property was listed on the county form under the investments category, and Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit watchdog in Washington, D.C., said “federal financial disclosure laws require disclosure of investment property even if it did not generate rental income.”

    What is Pilip hiding?

  • Italian American Organizations Condemn Ethnic Slur From Pilip’s Campaign

    Italian American Organizations Condemn Ethnic Slur From Pilip’s Campaign

    GLEN COVE, NY (TIP): The Order of Sons of Italy Commission on Social Justice, the National Italian American Foundation, the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, the Italian American Action Committee, the New York State Italian American PAC, the New York State Order of the Sons of Italy, and the former President of the New York State Sons of Italy have issued a joint statement. In today’s New York Post, Mazi Pilip said, “Tom Suozzi is the godfather of the border crisis.”

    “As Italian Americans and Italian American organizations, we condemn this anti-Italian attack and demand that Legislator Pilip apologize and refrain from issuing any other anti-Italian stereotypes in the future.”

    Bob Ferrito, National President of the Order of Sons of Italy Commission on Social Justice
    John Cavelli, National Italian American Foundation
    Judge Basil Russo, Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations
    Robert Fonti, Italian American Action Committee
    Jim Lisa, New York State Italian American PAC
    Anthony Naccarato, former President of New York State Sons of Italy
    Bob Ferrito, National President of the Order of Sons of Italy Commission on Social Justice

  • Suozzi leads Pilip in tight race to replace Santos in NY-3: PIX11 poll

    Suozzi leads Pilip in tight race to replace Santos in NY-3: PIX11 poll

    NEW YORK  (TIP):  In the race to replace disgraced Former Republican Congressman George Santos, former Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi is ahead in his quest to return to Washington, according to a new PIX11/Emerson College Polling survey released Thursday, January 18. Suozzi, who represented New York’s 3rd Congressional District for three terms before an unsuccessful run for governor, got the support of 45% of those surveyed. Republican nominee Mazi Pilip, a Nassau County legislator and an Israeli-American who once served in Israel’s Defense Forces, got support from 42% of those surveyed. About 9% of NY-3 voters are undecided.

    NY-3 is comprised mostly of Nassau County with a little bit of eastern Queens.

    The special election is set for Feb. 13, with early voting beginning Feb. 3. Suozzi’s advantage in the poll swells when you look at “very likely” voters who were surveyed.  They comprise about 84% of the survey and are crucial in special elections, which often see a low turnout. Suozzi had support from 51% of “very likely” voters and Pilip got 37%.

    There is not an overwhelmingly clear top issue for NY-3 voters. About 26% of voters said immigration was their top concern, 22% said the economy and 15% said crime.

    Abortion access, an issue that generally favors Democrats, was only at 4%. Abortion rights are protected by law in New York; however, the special election in this swing district is widely viewed through a national lens and Democrats are focused on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

    Another red flag for Democrats is the approval of President Joe Biden in NY-3. The poll found only 33% of those surveyed approve of the job he is doing.

    Drilling down on the issues, most NY-3 voters are in favor of continued foreign aid to support two major conflicts abroad: 60% favor continued support of Israel in its war in Gaza and 51% support continuing to help Ukraine with the Russian invasion.

    On the migrant crisis, there is a plurality of NY-3 voters who would like to see the federal government foot the bill. Of those surveyed, 45% said the federal government needs to pay back New York for the cost of supporting migrants; 18% said it should be a mix of New York City, Texas — which is doing the busing from the border — and the federal government; 14% said this city should be handling this on its own.

    PIX11 News will host a special one-hour forum featuring NY-3 candidates Suozzi and Pilip on Tuesday, Jan. 30, from 7 to 8 p.m. You can tune in to PIX11 News or stream the forum on PIX11.com and PIX11+, which is available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Samsung.

    The Emerson College Polling/PIX11 New York Third District poll was conducted January 13-15, 2024. The sample consisted of 975 registered voters, with a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error, of +/- 3.1 percentage points. The data sets were weighted by gender, age, party, race, and education based on US Census parameters, and New York voter registration and voter turnout data by regions (NY SOS). Data was collected by contacting a list of cellphones via MMS-to-web, landlines via Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and emails provided by Aristotle, along with an online panel of voters provided by Alchemer.

    (Source: PIX 11)