WATCH: GOP Republican Candidate Santos Take Another Run At 3rd C.D.

QUEENS, NY — With Tom Suozzi choosing to go "all-in" for his gubernatorial run, his congressional seat is up for grabs in the fall.

A handful of Democrats are on the primary ballot, while the Republican race is down to one person-- George Santos from Queens, although he plans to move into Nassau County by the summer.

Santos is a first-generation American, who has been successful on Wall Street and in his own business ventures.

Santos, who is in a same-sex marriage, would be one of the few openly gay Republican members Congress has ever had.

"My personal life doesn't really play into what my beliefs are, and what my values are," Santos, a guest on Thursday's "Patch AM," said.

Santos, who grew up in a Catholic/Jewish household, is a fiscal conservative.

"The Democrat Party just doesn't offer policies that are contingent and beholden to what I believe, and therefore I have been a lifelong registered Republican," he said.

Santos is familiar to voters in the 3rd congressional district, having taken on Suozzi in 2020, and got 43.5 percent of the electorate in the loss.

He hopes to build on the previous experience to win in November against the Democratic primary winner.

"I keep my campaign focused to the issues," Santos said. "Inflation is out of control, gas is too expensive, the southern border is extremely exposed and that imposes a threat of national security, especially to our district where we're having migrants being shipped up here."

Watch the full Patch AM interview below.