New York City-based Gramercy Surgery Center's CEO, Austin Cheng, was one of three Democratic candidates screened by the Nassau County Democratic Committee to potentially be put forth as the party's nominee in a special election runoff to replace unseated representative George Santos, according to a Dec. 4 LinkedIn post.
The U.S. House voted to expel former Republican Rep. George Santos on Dec. 1 following ethics violations, making him the sixth lawmaker ever removed from the chamber.
Mr. Cheng announced his bid for U.S. Congress for New York's 3rd Congressional District on Sept. 27, originally running to unseat Mr. Santos.
"When I began my congressional campaign for NY-03, I was considered a longshot — having never held public office before and running alongside around a dozen other Democratic candidates," Mr. Cheng said on LinkedIn.
He is being considered as the Democrats' endorsed candidate in the runoff alongside former Congressional elect Tom Suozzi and New York state Sen. Anna Kaplan.
Mr. Cheng's core issues include tackling rising healthcare costs, increasing Asian American representation in government and bringing down the cost of living.