Long Island Police Union Backs GOP Rival Over Rep. Tom Suozzi
Rep. Tom Suozzi is facing a surprising political rebuke in his longtime hometown of Glen Cove, where the city’s police union has opted to endorse his Republican challenger, Michael LiPetri.
The Glen Cove City Police Benevolent Association previously backed Suozzi when he faced LiPetri in their first congressional contest two years ago. This time, however, the union has switched sides.
Suozzi was raised in Glen Cove and served as the city’s mayor from 1994 through 2001.
“When it mattered most, and others turned their backs on us and let us down, Mike LiPetri stood with law enforcement 100%,” Glen Cove PBA President Chris Pascucci said in announcing the Republican endorsement.
“The Glen Cove PBA is proud to endorse Mike LiPetri for Congress.”
The endorsement comes as Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive, campaigns for another term in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. He recently received backing from the Nassau County PBA and the New York City Uniformed Firefighters Association.
The district stretches across Nassau County’s North Shore, sections of Queens and Huntington in Suffolk County.
Unlike the Nassau County police force, Glen Cove operates its own independent municipal police department.
LiPetri welcomed the union’s decision and criticized Suozzi for voting in favor of the George Floyd Act, legislation he said removed qualified immunity protections for police officers. The Republican argued that the measure contributed to declining morale among rank-and-file officers and their families.
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“The one Police Department that knows Suozzi best — his hometown department in Glen Cove — is supporting us because they know the truth about his record and understand they cannot rely on him to support the blue when it matters,” LiPetri said.
“On public safety, Tom Suozzi is aligned with ‘Horrible’ [Gov. Kathy] Hochul, whose failed bail-reform policies have made communities less safe and who has blocked local law enforcement from helping remove criminal illegal migrants,” he added.
Suozzi is serving his second period in Congress after initially representing the district from 2017 to 2023.
He relinquished the seat to launch an unsuccessful 2022 Democratic primary challenge to Hochul for governor. Suozzi returned to the House after winning a February 2024 special election triggered by the expulsion of scandal-plagued Republican Rep. George Santos.
Suozzi narrowly defeated LiPetri, a former state Assembly member, by three percentage points in the Nov. 24 election. The result was considerably closer than many political observers and pollsters had anticipated.
Republicans made limited investments in that 2024 race, while President Trump carried the district in the presidential contest. That strong Republican performance likely helped LiPetri exceed expectations.
This year, a Trump-linked super PAC and other Republican organizations have directed roughly $10 million toward the effort to unseat Suozzi, although the flow of GOP spending has slowed in recent weeks.
Suozzi’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Members of Congress serve two-year terms and earn an annual salary of $174,000.
