Vance Calls on Long Island to Replace Suozzi in Midterms

BETHPAGE, New York—Vice President JD Vance called on Long Island voters to replace Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) in the upcoming midterms, saying the congressman serves party leaders, not constituents. Vance spoke on June 17 at a planned event to discuss the administration’s efforts to address crime and fraud.

“Every single time he had an opportunity to vote for you, he voted for Katie Hochul and Nancy Pelosi,” said Vance, referring to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as “Katie.”

Vance said Suozzi “ignored you and took his marching orders from the most far-left Democrats anywhere in the world.”

He called Suozzi the “worst congressman in the entire United States.”

Vance railed against Suozzi and Democrats in New York for being unwilling to root out fraud in the state.

“The story of this state has been that your government, your leadership, and too many of your congressmen have allowed the government to rip you off and give your money to fraudsters,” said Vance.

The vice president encouraged voters to support former New York State assemblyman Mike LiPetri as someone who will fight for them, whatever their political leanings. LiPetri is projected to win the primary for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which will be on June 23.

“One of the things I love about this district is it’s full of independent people,” said Vance.

Even if you don’t agree with the president or vice president on every issue, “you need to have somebody like Mike LiPetri who’s fighting for you,” he said.

“One of the things that I love about Mike LiPetri is that he cares about this fraud issue just as much as I do,” Vance said, while criticizing Souzzi.

In a video response posted on X, Souzzi challenged the vice president.

“He wants to call names, he wants to play games, he wants to be a childish person who’s very inexperienced at politics quite frankly. You go right ahead. I’ll debate you about policy, and what your policies are doing to hurt the people of my district,” Souzzi said.

“Their signs say ‘Protecting Taxpayer Dollar,’ and ‘Fighting Fraudsters.’ This was a fraud,” he said, calling the event a political hit job.

Vance’s stop in Long Island comes just one day after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued top New York health officials for allegedly rigging the bidding process to choose a contractor to manage the state’s $10 billion Medicaid home aid program. Vance briefly mentioned the Medicaid lawsuit, but spent a majority of his 18 minute speech on Suozzi.

The DOJ alleges that New York state preselected a contractor to manage the state’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) despite the state Legislature having passed a law requiring a competitive bidding process.

The CDPAP program pays for home-based care for Medicaid patients with special needs. The lawsuit alleges that Public Partners LLC siphoned money off Medicaid funds that were strictly reserved for health aid hourly wages.

“The budget for Medicaid in our state is higher than Florida and Texas combined, there is no other explanation than that there is fraud, waste, and abuse,” gubernatorial candidate and Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman said at the event.

Blakeman said Florida has 4 million more people than the state of New York, but that New York’s Medicaid costs are twice that of Florida. If elected in November, Blakeman wants to cut costs and improve the quality of care, he said. U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) also joined the event to welcome Vance.

“I think people forget that the voters elect us because they trust in us to do what’s right by the people for the people,” LiPetri told reporters after the event.

LiPetri said he is focused on “just kitchen table issues, putting more money in the pockets of our voters, making sure we’re keeping safe communities.”

Previously an attorney for the New York City government, LiPetri said he was not expecting so much focus from the Vice President on his congressional race,

“It was such a surprise that the vice president came here. The vice president and I recognize what it means to be strong champions for American citizens … what it means to have a real, authentic voice that espouses just common sense legislation.”