On the day George Santos was to be sworn in, voters say they feel betrayed

Around coffee shops, diners and burger joints across New York's 3rd Congressional District, some voters Tuesday said that the prospective swearing-in of their new representative, George Santos, had left them with a sour taste.

Voters interviewed in his district, from Plainview to Port Washington, expressed scorn and dismay Tuesday as Santos, 34, was to take his seat in the historic House chamber a week after admitting to lying about his schooling, work history, finances and religious heritage.

The House session adjourned Tuesday evening until Wednesday after representatives failed to pick a speaker — delaying the swearing-in of members, new and incumbent.

Some gave no quarter to the congressman who fabricated a story about his grandparents fleeing Jewish persecution during the Holocaust. Santos said his statements were "embellishments." He said he worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, then said he worked with them. And after describing himself as a "proud American Jew," Santos said he was actually "Jew-ish," but not "Jewish." 

A candidate's integrity matters more than his or her political ideology, a sampling of district voters stressed during interviews with Newsday. Public officials should follow an ethical code, they said: A person who is caught lying in a job interview wouldn't be hired, and the same rule should apply to members of Congress.

"To me it smells like a character issue," John Keegan, 53, of Syosset, told Newsday as he walked into Starbucks in the Woodbury Village shopping center. Keegan, who said he voted for Santos, said of his new representative: “A lot of politicians lie, and I think he got caught.”

Santos entered the House Tuesday despite a swirl of investigations: On Monday, Brazilian authorities reopened a 2008 case against him involving the use of a stolen checkbook; the Nassau and Queens district attorneys, and the state attorney general, have said they are looking into Santos' conduct.

Federal prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York also are investigating Santos, according to several news outlets.

In the GOP stronghold of Massapequa, Santos drew scorn from registered Republicans. 

Jacqueline Colavito, 56, a Republican, said she felt betrayed by her vote for Santos.

“I did vote for him," she said as she was about to order her lunch at the All American Hamburger Drive In. "But I'm not happy with the idea that he lied about everything. I think he should step down.” 

Colavito said she didn’t like either Santos or Zimmerman, but was intrigued by some of the Republican’s policy positions.

“Now, I see how much he lied," Colavito said. “Deceived, lied to? Absolutely. He should not be sworn in. I’m sorry, he should not go in today."

His decision to fundraise off of his inauguration was wrong, Colavito said. "Now he’s trying to get paid for people to see him. You don’t do that. So I don’t think he’s good to represent Long Island.”

New York's 3rd Congressional District spans the North Shore of Long Island and dips South to Massapequa and Hicksville. There are more registered Democrats than Republicans, by a margin of 40% to 28%, according to the most recent State Board of Election enrollment figures.

Another 28% of registered voters are independent, or not affiliated with a political party.

Santos is due to succeed former Democratic House members Thomas Suozzi, of Glen Cove, in office since 2016; and Steve Israel, who now lives in Oyster Bay and was first elected in 2000.

Port Washington resident Marc Ausfresser, 70, said it “doesn’t seem fair” that Santos misrepresented his record and gets to take his seat.

“Being objective, trying to put politics to the side, it seems like if anyone were applying to any other job, other than Congress, with such a misrepresented resume, they would automatically be disqualified, and it should be the same here.”

Ausfresser, an attorney, said at the Port Washington train station that Santos' pending swearing-in shows that “the truth is not all that important” in this political climate.

John Minietta, 72, a registered Republican from Plainview, who was eating lunch at On Parade in Woodbury, said he had voted for Santos but wouldn't vote for him again.

“I feel like he’s done a very sad thing,” Minietta said. “I don’t think there was any reason for him to do it. He should have been honest. Now he has a problem. I’m disappointed in him.”

Kerry Clyne, 52, who was getting off a late afternoon train at the Port Washington Long Island Rail Road station, called Santos a “con artist” and said it was “deplorable" that he will represent her district.

“I think it sends a message that nothing really matters anymore,” said Clyne, of Port Washington.

Clyne, who works as a fundraiser for a health care company, said she voted for Zimmerman and called on the Republican Party to condemn him.

“They really shouldn’t want someone like this representing the party," she said.

In a statement to Newsday, the Republican supervisor of North Hempstead called Tuesday a "sad day" for district residents. Jennifer DeSena, who endorsed Santos and campaigned with him last year, said: "Mr. Santos is not trustworthy, and I am personally offended and disgusted by his actions, which included deceiving me personally when he sought my endorsement. He does not have my support, and I will never consider him my congressman.”