Hochul expresses her joy in calling for an election to replace Santos

After calling for embattled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., to resign, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would be “very happy” to call a special election to determine his replacement in Congress.

The Democrat governor’s comments followed the release on Thursday of a scathing report by the House Ethics Committee on Santos, who subsequently announced that he would not run for reelection next year.

“So, I’m very happy to have him resign,” Hochul told CNN. “Stop the embarrassment that has befallen the people of his district and the state of New York, just go away.”

“And I’ll be very happy to call that election,” she added.

According to the House ethics report, Santos “blatantly stole from his campaign” and “deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit.”

“At nearly every opportunity, he placed his desire for private gain above his duty to uphold the Constitution, federal law, and ethical principles,” the report reads.

The controversial New York Republican’s decision to not run again is a departure from his previous statement that he would seek reelection even if the House voted to expel him. On Thursday he said “my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time.”

Santos took to social media Thursday to respond to the report’s release, writing on X that the actions of the “ethics committee” were not “part of due process” but instead an attempt to “poison” the jury pool of the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation.

“This was a dirty biased act and one that tramples all over my rights,” he said.

On Friday, House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest launched a fresh push to expel Santos from Congress, introducing a bill targeting the first-term Republican.

The lower chamber could vote on the motion as early as Nov. 28, when it returns from the Thanksgiving holiday recess. Such a motion requires the support of two-thirds of the House to pass.

“The report’s findings are extremely damning and I would vote to expel,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told The Hill in a text message.

Raskin had been part of a group of 31 Democrats who previously voted against expelling Santos, arguing that doing so would set a bad precedent for the chamber.