Santos seat has another contender

Daily Point

Kaplan runs for Congress

While the unofficial campaign for the congressional seat now held by fabulist Rep. George Santos seemed to begin the day he took office, another Democrat officially jumped in the CD3 pool Monday when former State Sen. Anna Kaplan filed documentation with the Federal Election Commission.

Kaplan’s submission comes as other candidates are eyeing the seat. Nassau County Legis. Josh Lafazan officially filed paperwork in January and raised nearly $350,000 in the first quarter. Robert Zimmerman, who lost to the Republican Santos last year, remains a possible candidate, and has used his social media to showcase regular appearances across the district. And while former Rep. Tom Suozzi has been mum about whether he’d run, observers have said they’d be surprised if he didn’t.

Zimmerman and Suozzi both declined to comment Monday. Lafazan told The Point he was “incredibly well-positioned to run in a primary and in a general” and hoped to be considered for a potential special election, should Santos not complete his term.

Kaplan did not return requests for comment Monday.

Party insiders tell The Point that Kaplan isn’t considered the strongest candidate in the mix, but that her background and history in the State Senate make her a potentially credible contender.

It’s early and far from clear whether Santos will serve out his full two-year term, which would leave Kaplan to run in a primary in 2024, or whether she’d be considered as a candidate for a special election if Santos is forced out of office earlier. In a special election, party leaders select their candidate, thereby eliminating the need for a primary. State and Nassau County Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs said the party isn’t “ready to make a decision now,” and will confer with the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee before doing so.

Kaplan ran for CD3 before in the 2016 primary, when the seat was open after Steve Israel’s retirement. Kaplan came in fourth behind Suozzi, current Assemb. Steve Stern and former North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman. But that was before Kaplan’s stint in the State Senate — and the district lines have shifted since then.

After two terms in the State Senate, Kaplan lost her reelection bid last year to Republican Jack Martins, whose name also has been in the mix as a potential CD3 candidate.

One local Democratic consultant suggested that her recent history means Kaplan’s latest campaign would “go nowhere.” But another insider noted that the Kaplan-Martins fight was a “rough race.”

“I don’t know if I’d judge her on that,” the insider said.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall and Dan Janison @Danjanison

Pencil Point

Troubled republics

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Quick Points

Disasters, human-made and natural

• The Federal Reserve harshly criticized itself for not taking “forceful enough action” to mitigate the risks at Silicon Valley Bank that led to the bank’s collapse in March. If you’re wondering when the last time a government agency owned up to something like that, you’re not alone.
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• Three Suffolk County Child Protective Services workers who handled the Thomas Valva case have since been promoted. Makes you wonder what they would have gotten had they done their jobs well.
• Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel says GOP candidates need to address abortion “head on” in 2024. Notably, she didn’t offer any advice on what they should say.
• In the fall, drought grounded barge traffic across the Upper Mississippi River. Now, flooding is shutting down freight on the Mississippi. It’s just another Mother Nature parable with an extreme weather twist.

— Michael Dobie @mwdobie