Nikki Haley's campaign blasts Trump over the GOP special election loss in New York: 'Until Republicans wake up, we will continue to lose'
- Nikki Haley's campaign pointed to Donald Trump after the GOP lost New York's 3rd district House special election.
- "Until Republicans wake up, we will continue to lose," a Haley spokesperson said in a statement.
GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley's campaign slammed former President Donald Trump after Republicans lost the pivotal special election in New York's 3rd Congressional district, arguing that the ex-president remains a "huge weight" for the party ahead of November.
Democrat Tom Suozzi on Tuesday defeated Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip in a district that encompasses parts of Long Island and Queens, flipping the congressional seat that he once held and giving Democrats a major boost in an area that has been trending away from their party in recent years.
For Haley, who has argued that she can help Republicans hold the House if she's able to lead the GOP ticket instead of Trump, the results confirmed what she's been telling audiences on the campaign trail in her primary battle with the former president.
"Let's just say the quiet part out loud. Donald Trump continues to be a huge weight against Republican candidates," Haley national spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement. "Despite the enormous and obvious failings of Joe Biden, we just lost another winnable Republican House seat because voters overwhelmingly reject Donald Trump."
"Until Republicans wake up, we will continue to lose," the statement continued. "Time for a new generation of conservative leadership that doesn't turn off the American people."
Suozzi won the seat formerly represented by George Santos, the disgraced former congressman who was expelled by the House last December. The district, which is largely suburban in nature, was seen as a test case by both parties on issues like immigration, public safety, and the economy.
While Trump won over many independents in his 2016 campaign, his political brand in affluent suburbs like New York's 3rd district became increasingly toxic in the 2018 midterms and continued into the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 midterms — when many high-profile GOP candidates endorsed by the former president lost their races.
Republicans also underperformed in 2022 relative to perceived expectations of a "red wave" that failed to materialize on a national scale.
With Suozzi's win, Republicans now hold an even narrower 219-213 majority in the House, with three vacancies.