Author of “The Fabulist” highlights trends besieging Long Island politics
From left to right, Larry Levy, author Mark Chuisano and Meena Bose at the Tuesday, March 5, discussion in the Guthart Cultural Center Theater. // Photo courtesy of Donald Proctor.
A visit on Tuesday, March 5, by the biographer of former member of Congress George Santos called attention to the mounting national influence and partisanship infiltrating politics on Long Island and across the country.
Mark Chiusano, a longtime Newsday journalist and the author of “The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos” discussed political trends that led to Santos’ election. Chiusano also explained how those trends have changed the dynamic of who is now funding congressional races and which messages are being prioritized by candidates.
An unprecedented amount of $22 million within eight weeks was spent by or on candidates in the special election to replace Santos, as mentioned by Larry Levy, director of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra and panelist for the “Understanding the Rise and Fall of U.S. Congressman George Santos and Consequences for Policy Making” discussion with Chiusano.
The two largest contributions were made by congressional political action committees (PACs), special interest groups representing either party, with the Democrats spending $6 million to the Republicans’ $4.3 million, per Politico. This means that the vast majority of campaign support came from outside the district itself, and the amount of outside spending in 2024 easily eclipsed the election cycle of Santos’ win, with the third district only seeing $3.4 million between the two major candidates in 2022, as cited by OpenSecrets.org.
The panel cited the diverse demographics of the area represented, which encompasses much of Nassau County and Queens, as the rationale for increased national attention from either party in this race. However, the panel said this more watchful eye on how voters react to stances on foreign policy and other federal policies focuses on further polarizing local politics and bringing attention away from domestic problems.
“The more partisan things get, the less local they get,” Chiusano said. The unique timing of the Santos vacancy made it especially effective for Washington-based PACs to heighten the prominence of immigration issues, the Gaza crisis and either candidate’s affiliation with Donald Trump or President Biden in their advertising and rhetoric.
“This intense partisanship pushes people into the most extreme corners,” Chiusano said. “Those corners were where Santos thrived.” Chiusano also said that Santos was the product of “something interesting, strange and disturbing” occurring in American politics, an increasing sense of divisiveness that “lets unqualified people come in by virtue of being on one side or the other.” The growing distaste between the left and right hasn’t been waning. The rift in the two-party electorate has been suggested to be worse than ever in a recent study by Rice and Stanford Universities.
“I feel there is this strange sense of passion invigorated by strengthening beliefs,” said Skyler Wodzinski, a sophomore who reported on the ascendance of Santos for WRHU. “Beliefs that you are taught by role models and what you see through the media can intensify partisanship, especially today.”
While Santos’ run was short-lived, his ghost loomed large in February. The victor of the special election, Democrat Tom Suozzi, has had to speak on easing partisanship during this past run. “That was Suozzi’s campaign promise,” said Leslie Feldman, a political science professor at Hofstra. “Suozzi is a conservative Democrat … that was part of his appeal.” Suozzi is also a familiar face for the third district, as he represented it from 2017 to 2023.
The panel of Chiusano, Levy and Meena Bose, the director of Hofstra’s Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency, also discussed the changing role of the media in vetting political representation. Santos is such a mystery, and his laundry list of falsehoods was revealed largely after his party nominated him. The discussion noted how Santos reminds the media and public of the importance of vetting politicians.
Chiusano said that reporters in the era of online journalism are under an enormous amount of pressure to stay current with all the information about a candidate. Nevertheless, as the media evolves and journalists dig deeper, advantages may present themselves to the public.
“As candidates put their lives on display more, I think they’re going to be held more accountable for what they put on display,” said Kyle Mastroni, a junior economics major. “Once people see it, they can scrutinize it.”
While items of a politician’s past may become more easily fact-checkable, the public must observe the implications that such a copious amount of outside money could have.
