Fox News contributor Kellyanne Conway urged Republicans to use the loss of a New York House seat as a teaching moment on "America's Newsroom" on Wednesday after former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi won a closely watched special election against GOP rival Mazi Pilip. Conway said Suozzi successfully flipped the seat previously held by former Rep. George Santos by taking advantage of early voting rules and distancing himself from the Biden administration's border policies.
DEMS FLIP SEAT AS SUOZZI WINS CRUCIAL SPECIAL CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION IN NEW YORK
KELLYANNE CONWAY: Suozzi did two things that were smart that the Republicans better learn from: number one, early voting. He killed it by two to one, I think, in Queens, and by 16% in Nassau County, or vice versa. The [snowstorm] yesterday in New York, where all three of us were, proves that this bank your vote early, getting that early vote and making Republican and center-right voters comfortable with voting early is incredibly important.
Number two, Suozzi, instead of lying like every other Democrat seems to be doing these days, 'Mayorkas is doing a great job. There's no crisis at the border. The border czar Kamala's wonderful. Biden's right.' What did he do? He said, I better go against my party on the border. And he did it. Paid advertising, mailers, press conferences, public appeals. So he has shown the Democrats how to run on the border. I think Republicans should do the same thing with abortion. Instead of being ostriches and pretending, with their head in the sand, they should be peacocks and say, look, this is what it means to be pro-life in 2024. This is what it means to be pro-choice in 2024. And instead of hiding, own it and message it. I think he did a great job on that going against his party. Let's see how many Democrats follow suit.
Conway added that Pilip erred by taking a "wishy-washy" stance on whether she supports former President Donald Trump's candidacy.
"When you sit in the middle of the highway, you become political roadkill," she added.
The Associated Press projected that Suozzi would defeat county lawmaker Pilip to win back his old job, with the call coming Tuesday night just over an hour after the polls closed.
With the GOP hanging on to a razor-thin majority in the House, national Republicans and Democrats poured big bucks into a race in suburban New York City where immigration and border security, crime and abortion were the top issues, and where the election was seen as a bellwether ahead of the all-but-certain November White House rematch between Trump and President Biden.
With the Republican majority in the House slipping to 219-213 once Suozzi is sworn in, the pickup by the Democrats now puts the GOP's grip on the chamber further in peril.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
