Rep. Tom Suozzi (D–Glen Cove) and Republican challenger Mike LiPetri went head-to-head Tuesday night in a News12 debate, where they debated abortion, affordable housing, the SALT deduction, the migrant crisis and climate change.
“While in Congress, I reject extremism,” Suozzi said. “I use common sense and I try to work across party lines to accomplish my four main priorities.”
LiPetri is challenging Suozzi for the seat of New York’s 3rd Congressional District representative, which stretches from Whitestone, Queens, across the North Shore to the Suffolk County and then to just south of Farmingdale.
Suozzi, who served as congressman from 2017-2023, was re-elected to the seat in February during a special election to replace ousted George Santos.
“Washington’s broken and Tom Suozzi won’t fix it,” LiPetri said. “… This is an opportunity to pass the torch from the age of the career politician to the next generation common sense Republican.”
Suozzi said during opening statements that his four priorities are securing the border, restoring the SALT deduction, bringing money to the district and healing the partisan divide. LiPetri did not list any priorities.
While the two disagreed on certain issues or approaches to resolving them, the two did agree on abortion rights. Both opposed a national abortion ban and supported codifying Roe v. Wade.
Both also expressed their support for Israel and supporting the local Jewish community.
LiPetri called for consequences for local school campuses that enable antisemitic protests, including holding back funding, removing accreditation and deporting foreign students who partake.
Suozzi called for a “degrading” of Iran, which is inciting the war against Israel.
Affordability has been a main issue in local elections.
Suozzi said a solution to bolster affordability while preserving Long Island’s suburban makeup is to establish cool downtowns, or develop downtown areas around train stations by increasing available housing.
LiPetri said Suozzi’s proposed solution is modeled after Gov. Kathy Hochul, who proposed a train-centered housing increase that was struck down by local pushback, and an effort to make Long Island look like New York City.
“I don’t bend the knee to the governor,” LiPetri said. “I’m here for us, the people of Long Island.”
Suozzi said he had opposed the governor’s proposal as it overridden local control.
LiPetri said he supports first-time homebuyers of single-family homes. He said he would work towards this by achieving regional public-private partnerships an low-interest loans for first-time homebuyers.
Suozzi asked LiPetri to identify where in the district single-family homes could be built to increase the housing stock. LiPetri did not answer the question, saying the solution is not just about building homes.
The two did agree on removing the cap on the State and Local Tax deductions, otherwise known as SALT.
In 2017, former President Donald Trump signed into law a Republican-backed bill imposing a $10,000 cap on SALT deductions. Just two weeks ago, Trump reversed his opinion and said he supported removing the cap.
LiPetri, who is endorsed by Trump, supported a “lift” of the cap and removing taxes on tips, overtime, and social security.
“It’s imperative that we make Long Island an affordable place for both younger generations like my own but then older generations who want to stay here and watch their children and their grandchildren grow up,” LiPetri said.
Suozzi, who has advocated for the restoration of SALT, called the cap a “body blow” to Long Islanders.
Regarding the migrant crisis, Suozzi has called for securing the southern border, saying he requested Biden stop allowing asylum applications between the ports of entry, among other things.
While an executive order has paused influxes of migrants entering the country, Suozzi called for bipartisan solutions in Congress to establish these measures.
LiPetri said he supports mass deportations of migrants illegally residing in the United States. He called the migrant influx a safety issue, saying that thousands of them are murderers and rapists.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, released data showing that about 13,000 noncitizens entered the country, but according to Newsweek, the Department of Homeland Security said these numbers span years and multiple presidential administrations.
Suozzi called LiPetri’s rhetoric extreme, saying that crime rates are at a low locally.
As for climate change, Suozzi said it is real and something Long Island is bracing with recent intense storms. To address this, Suozzi said the longterm solution is bringing in money to make a more environmentally green economy and bolstering resiliency in the meantime.
“We have to do whatever we can to try and make sure that our shoreline is secure,” Suozzi said.
LiPetri said his environmental protection approach would be from the bottom up, achieved by working with localities to find solutions. He touted his endorsements by town supervisors to show this.
He called Suozzi’s approach from the top down in seeking “government-controlled” solutions.
Suozzi said it was not surprising for LiPetri to be endorsed by the town supervisors, who are also Republicans, and touted that he is endorsed by Republican and Democrat mayors.
He said he meets with them regularly to discuss local issues and work toward solutions with federal money.
Election day is Nov. 5, with early voting from Oct. 26 through Nov. 3.
