George Santos' Democratic opponent calls for congressional probe as party plots district comeback

NEW YORK — George Santos’ general election opponent called for a House investigation into the GOP member-elect over biographical fabricationshe told on the campaign trail — as Democrats plotted how to take back the district.

“We call upon Congress and demand Congress conduct a House ethics investigation into George Santos,” Robert Zimmerman, a Democrat who lost to his opponent by a 54 to 46 percent margin in November, said Thursday.

Zimmerman joined local Democrats from the state legislature for a rally outside the Nassau County Courthouse a day after Republican District Attorney Anne Donnelly promised to prosecute Santos if he committed any crimes. Federal and state authorities are also probing Santos’ finances and falsehoods he spun while running for office about where he worked, went to school and even volunteered.

Meanwhile, Democrats set their sights on flipping New York’s 3rd congressional district before Santos is even seated.

“Little known fact: @DanRosenthalNYC represents portions of #Santos congressional district. Rosenthal is a proven vote-getter in swing districts,” David Greenfield, a local Democrat and influential former New York City Council member, tweeted Thursday.

“He represents 135,000 people in a rare purple state legislative district for over 5 years. #RunRosenthalRun.”

Assemblymember Dan Rosenthal, the youngest member of the New York state legislature at 31 and a Democratic moderate, did not return messages. But a supporter pointed to results from the midterm elections showing Rosenthal outperformed Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who lost the district, by around 3,000 votes.

The seat, currently held by outgoing Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, is a critical part of a red wave in New York where Republicans picked up three House seats, cementing their narrow control of the chamber next year.

Earlier this week, Zimmerman challenged Santos to a rematch in a special election should the member-elect decide to resign and run again.

So far, Santos has refused to step down. Instead he downplayed his biographical falsifications, calling them mere embellishments of his resume even though he misrepresented major parts of his background, including a claim that his grandparents survived the Holocaust and that he was a banker at Goldman Sachs.

Republican House leadership has refused to respond to calls for an ethics investigation.

The progressive activist group Courage for America organized Thursday’s Nassau rally with Zimmerman. The organization was formed this year to take on the new Republican House majority.