New York Representative George Santos is in custody, finally, with 13 federal criminal charges. The full, 20-page indictment is here.
I grew up in Glen Cove, which is part of his district-- New York's 3rd Congressional District. Located on the North Shore of Long Island, it includes Centre Island, Great Neck, Locust Valley, Manhasset, Mill Neck, Old Brookville, Oyster Bay, Port Washington, Roslyn, and more. The district is the wealthiest congressional district in NY. In 2022, it was the fourth wealthiest district in the nation. I don't have stats, but this would seem to indicate higher levels of education, also. So, I'm flummoxed- how in the world did these Long Islanders get so completely bamboozled by George Santos?
Steve Israel, former Democratic congressman from the same district, says "The answer is a combination of Democratic complacency, Republican extremism, and media decline."
Well, Big Media decline, anyway.
The North Shore Leader, a small weekly newspaper that has served portions of this district since 1955, broke the scandal before the November election. It may have been the most important news to break in the 2022 NY election cycle, but hardly anybody noticed.
Grant Lally, a lifelong Republican who actually ran for this 3rd district seat three times, is the publisher of The North Shore Leader, which reluctantly endorsed a Democrat. At the time, the newspaper said in its endorsement of Dem. Robert Zimmerman, "... the GOP nominee - George Santos - is so bizarre, unprincipled and sketchy that we cannot (endorse him)."
In an interview with PBS, Lally notes, "In the North Shore, in this Third Congressional District, they are furious, particularly the Republicans, because they feel that they were used.
...Santos took money from them. He took time from them. He got them into his scheme and got them to go out and talk to their friends. So they feel completely betrayed. And Democrats are outraged and, frankly, bewildered that they could lose to such a guy.
But, I mean, the universal sentiment is that this is an outrage and this guy's got to go."
The local paper was vindicated in its reporting when the
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