“People tell me if I had listened to the polls instead of doing what I thought was right, I would have won,” Rose declared in a video announcement starting his bid. “Maybe that’s true, but for me, some things are much more important than elections.”
Rose continued to blame Republicans for “tearing America apart, just to hold on to power.”
“I’m running because in this country, it can be affordable and fair,” he concluded. “Our politics can lift us up rather than tear us down.”
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An Army veteran who was injured in Afghanistan, Rose was elected to Congress in 2018, beating two-term GOP incumbent Dan Donovan. Two years later, Malliotakis beat Rose by the same 6.4 percentage-point margin by which Rose had defeated Donovan.
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Rose is one of only two Democrats to represent the district covering Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn since 1993. Yet, redrawn district boundaries could make the seat a rare pickup opportunity for Democrats as they attempt to hold onto an eight-seat House majority.
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“Staten Islanders rejected Max Rose and the Democrats’ socialist agenda in 2020 and they will do the same in 2022,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Camille Gallo announced in a statement.
In the meantime, Malliotakis slammed Rose as a “rubber-stamp for Nancy Pelosi” and blamed him for embracing “the most radical elements of his party” and of pushing President Biden’s “disastrous agenda,” like the massive Build Back Better spending bill and the Afghanistan departure.
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“As a member of Congress, I have spent everyday fighting for my constituents, serving as their voice for commonsense leadership and holding the Biden Administration accountable,” Malliotakis went on. “I am extremely confident that voters will support my record and once again reject Max Rose, Nancy Pelosi and their socialist agenda. Max Rose, you will be a two-time loser.”
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Rose becomes the immediate favorite in a contested Democratic primary that includes Democratic socialist Brittany Ramos DeBarros, another Army veteran who worked in Afghanistan, and Mike DeCillis, a former police officer and volunteer paramedic who worked at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 attacks.
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In the meantime, Malliotakis remains in the good graces of former President Donald Trump, notwithstanding her vote last month in support of a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Shortly after the legislation was passed, Trump slammed the 13 Republicans who voted for the measure at a National Republican Congressional Committee dinner — where Malliotakis was in the audience.
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Trump recently announced that the two had talked their differences out after Malliotakis placed a call to Mar-a-Lago.
“She spoke to me,” Trump stated. “I still support her.”
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