The 29-Year-Old Long Islander Coming for George Santos’ Seat
Zak Malamed shares his campaign to unseat ‘embarrassment’ George Santos and South Carolina ‘Sister Senator’ Margie Bright Matthews reveals how the bipartisan group began.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters/Zak for Congress
Long Island native Zak Malamed is tired of Rep. George Santos’ shit. He’s so tired of it, that the 29-year-old Great Neck, New York resident, who happens to be one of Santos’ constituents, is vying for the accused serial liar’s seat in Congress.
“I truly never imagined that the most dishonest MAGA Republican of them all would be representing me and my home congressional district,” he says on the latest episode of The New Abnormal politics podcast.
Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast.
“He’s not just a local embarrassment, he’s not just a statewide embarrassment, not just a national embarrassment. Over the past couple of months when I’ve been in both the UAE and Israel, I’ve had people come up to me and ask me about George Santos not knowing that he was my member of Congress. So he’s an international embarrassment,” he adds to TNA’s co-host Andy Levy.
Up until this point, Malamed worked behind the scenes to get others elected through The Next 50, an advocacy group that supports up-and-coming political candidates. But then Santos happened, and Malamed had enough. He took a step into the limelight, filing to run against Santos and oust the Republican.
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
He shares with Andy why he thinks Santos won in the district to begin with, how he thinks he’ll be different—and stand a chance to win—and his thoughts on Santos’ lies about being Jewish, something that Malamed took personally (“He really made a mockery of my Jewish faith,” he tells Andy.)
He also shares his stance on education, guns (he lost a friend to gun violence in 2020), and cops, with an answer that may surprise some progressive Democrats.
Also on this episode: TNA co-cost Danielle Moodie talks to State Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, of the “Sister Senators” in the South Carolina Senate—made up of three Republicans, one Democrat, and one Independent— who banded together to block an abortion ban in their state.
Her relationship with one of her Sister Senators on the other side of the aisle, Republican Katrina Shealy, goes way back, and was forged in an effort to combat the rampant sexism in the South Carolina state legislature.
She tells Danielle all about it.
Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Unlock a year of full access to The Looker and The Daily Beast for $35.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Looker and The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
Sign in
Login dialog