The battle for New York’s Third Congressional District is heating up in the suburbs of New York City, as Congressman Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, and a Republican Nassau County legislator, Mazi Pilip, jostle for an advantage in the fast-approaching special election to replace Congressman George Santos.

With less than a month until the special election in New York’s Third, scheduled for February 13, Republican and Democratic campaign committees are beginning to escalate the ad war in the district. If the ads are any indication, immigration is shaping up to be one of the primary issues in the election.

In a new ad, the National Republican Congressional Committee is attempting to paint Mr. Suozzi as a radical and blaming crime on migrants.

“Another murder committed, another illegal immigrant … arrested,” the speaker says in the ad. “Because of open border radicals like [Governor] Hochul’s handpicked candidate, Tom Suozzi.”

The speaker goes on to say that Mr. Suozzi “opposed penalizing sanctuary cities, voted against notifying authorities when an illegal immigrant attempted to purchase a firearm, and Suozzi even bragged that he kicked ICE out of Nassau County.”

“A crisis on our border, murder in our streets, because of radicals like Tom Suozzi,” the voiceover says.

The ad comes shortly after Democrats released a spot in support of Mr. Suozzi and in response to Democratic ads attempting to portray Ms. Pilip as radical, which have been dominating the airwaves for weeks.

The new ad from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee attacks Ms. Pilip for refusing to answer questions from reporters with local Fox News and ABC affiliates, saying, “Mazi Pilip won’t answer questions about her agenda.” 

“Pilip is part of the extreme wing of the Republican Party that wants to take away your rights and benefits,” the speaker says. “They’d ban abortion even in New York, even in cases of rape and incest, and make massive cuts to Social Security.”

On Monday, a committee supporting Ms. Pilip released an ad attacking Mr. Suozzi as “Sanctuary Tom Suozzi,” quoting him as saying, “I kicked ICE out of Nassau County.”

Prior to the new proliferation of ads, Democrats had been flooding the district and its nearby television markets with ads saying that Ms. Pilip had been “hand-picked” by “the MAGA Republican movement.”

“Pilip would join MAGA Republicans to pass an agenda that would hurt Nassau County and Queens. Cuts to Social Security, forcing seniors to pay more and retire later. Cuts to law enforcement jobs, making our communities less safe. And deep cuts to our veterans’ benefits,” the ad says. “Mazi Pilip — handpicked by MAGA to support their agenda. Not ours.”

Both Democrats and Republicans are hoping to parlay a win in the suburban New York district into broader momentum going into the 2024 elections. In 2022, the New York suburbs were a key battleground in the fight over which party would control the House of Representatives.

The Cook Political Report currently rates the race as a “toss-up.”