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Pennsylvania Special Election Results: 18th Congressional District

Pennsylvania Special Election Results: 18th Congressional District

Conor Lamb leads by 0.3 percentage points, or 627 votes, over Rick Saccone with 100 percent of precincts fully reporting.

CandidatePartyVotesPct.
Conor LambDemocrat113,81349.8
Rick SacconeRepublican113,18649.6
Drew MillerLibertarian1,3790.6

228,378 votes, 100% reporting (593 of 593 precincts)

The Democrat and Republican in a special House election in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Trump country were divided by a few hundred votes in a race that was too close to call early Wednesday — an ominous sign for Republicans in a district that Donald J. Trump won by nearly 20 percentage points. Read more here.

In 2016, Mr. Trump won the district by double digits, but the race between Conor Lamb, a moderate Democrat, and Rick Saccone, a Republican, had become unexpectedly competitive.
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From the results we can draw two conclusions:

  1. regardless of who wins the seat, the Democrats are going to see it as a victory; and
  2. if the Democrats win the seat then the Republicans are going to blame;
    • the Libertarians,
    • Ms. Clinton,
    • Mr. Obama,
    • Fake News,
    • the "Deep State",
    • the weather,
    • North Korea, and/or
    • boojums in the snark.

Of course, the election is practically meaningless because of redistricting but it's going to be fun watching the scramble.
 
Fiddytree said:
They will be shoring up their defences. What we are seeing is public spin. Inside the House conference this morning, the discussion was quite different.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

It's also possible that they're living in a bubble.

"Rep Chris Collins (R-NY) walking into conference says “this was a one-off. We’ve won five; they’ve won one. I’m feeling pretty good.” Wow"

-Rachael Bade, Politico Congress reporter.

https://twitter.com/rachaelmbade/status/973908730864685056

That said, it's wise for Democratic strategists to assume that Republicans will be executing a competent campaign strategy. As they say in martial arts, "Punch through the target."
 
Erod said:
No, this stuff is predictable. Remember when Obama got it handed to him in 2010? Clinton in 1994? This is typical.
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And I remember all the righties waving their pom poms and declaring that 'the people' were rejecting the 'liberal agenda'. Funny how you forget stuff like that. (not really)
 
Cardinal said:
It's also possible that they're living in a bubble.

"Rep Chris Collins (R-NY) walking into conference says “this was a one-off. We’ve won five; they’ve won one. I’m feeling pretty good.” Wow"

-Rachael Bade, Politico Congress reporter.

https://twitter.com/rachaelmbade/status/973908730864685056

That said, it's wise for Democratic strategists to assume that Republicans will be executing a competent campaign strategy. As they say in martial arts, "Punch through the target."
Click to expand...
Representative Cramer echoed the "wake-up call" memo sent out earlier, reiterating that Ryan said as much this morning. Cramer also took a risk, reevaluating and changing his mind to not go after the lone remaining Democrat in the state's congressional delegation.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
 
BWG said:
And I remember all the righties waving their pom poms and declaring that 'the people' were rejecting the 'liberal agenda'. Funny how you forget stuff like that. (not really)
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After having read Lamb's website and his views, They can't possibly make that case. But they'll try anyway. ****, Paul Ryan was just on TV in total denial, making more excuses.
 
If I lived there I might have voted for Lamb too ... provided I believed what he was saying.
As I said the other day, he was an attractive candidate and Saccone was blah.
If the Ds were smart they'd try to find as many candidates like him to run in locations that fit their resume.
 
bubbabgone said:
If I lived there I might have voted for Lamb too ... provided I believed what he was saying.
As I said the other day, he was an attractive candidate and Saccone was blah.
If the Ds were smart they'd try to find as many candidates like him to run in locations that fit their resume.
Click to expand...

Lamb was nearly a perfect Dem candidate for that district
Former military
Pro gun
pro union

In a district that probably supports all of those
 
haymarket said:
Steve just said its over and MSNBC is declaring an "apparent winner" with Lamb having a lead of more than 600 votes with far less than that to be counted in Greene county and some military and provisional ballots.

So it looks like disaster has hit Trump big time and the blue wave keep on building.
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There's no doubt there was a disparity in candidate quality, but securing good candidates is part of the competitive process. Howeer, the RNC threw 10M (vs DNC 900K) atr the the district, and sent in Trump, Ivanka, Don Jr., Pence, etc., for multiple stumping! To a +20 Trump, solid R, 95% white district! The heart of Trump country!

If they through everything but the kitchen sink, only to fail in a +20 Trump, what's going to happen in those +7 or +8's?

There's 141 CDs that are less than +20 Trump. If the Dems take only 1/4 of them, that's 35 seats & the House.

The Dems better have learned a lesson here, from Lamb & Jones:

Forget the litmus tests & ideology, instead run a good candidate with the proper local values.

You don't even have to run against Trump. Run against the Trump/GOP values, and run civilly in stark contrast to the Trump/GOP hate, animosity, and divisiveness. That's what Lamb did!
 
Erod said:
Lamb agrees with you on pretty much nothing. He's far more conservative than he is liberal.
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To refine that data- Lamb is far more a moderate than he is an extremist. I realize to some on the far right a 'liberal' smokes dope, demands everyone with a second home be strung up and such but point of fact many voters long for districts that have to be more moderate.

If a Republican was to attempt moderation he'd be vilified by his own party and some rabble rouser rabid right ninnie would win the primary... :roll:

For sure there are extremists on both sides- from rabid right politicians claiming GAWD hates gays and we are in a fight for the very 'soul' of a 'Christian' nation to the extremist liberal who thinks every firearm and slingshot should be confiscated.

But for most of us the middle ground is where business is done. Some of we long for the day when bi-partisan policy ruled and the extremists on both ends wailed and threatened 'retribution' next election (which will have to wait for the Second Coming).

I always smile when some rather extreme conservative thinks they can lecture on who is how much of a liberal or not... Fact is most Midwest democrats are far more conservative than many coastal Republicans. But that doesn't stop a fly-over (or Texan) Republican from painting the local Democrats as GAWDLESS COMMIE TRAITORS... :doh

At this point I see no benefit from either party running government- I'd much prefer a coalition of both setting policy and deciding on solutions for the problems we face. The seesaw extremism we see as one party works harder to destroy the works done before them rather than face the issues at hand and figure out long term solutions...

Yeah I know how silly that is... but once upon a time I was even sillier and joined the Infantry thinking it is what any grateful young man did to support the greatest nation on earth he was privileged to be born in... :peace
 
Chomsky said:
There's no doubt there was a disparity in candidate quality, but securing good candidates is part of the competitive process. Howeer, the RNC threw 10M (vs DNC 900K) atr the the district, and sent in Trump, Ivanka, Don Jr., Pence, etc., for multiple stumping! To a +20 Trump, solid R, 95% white district! The heart of Trump country!

If they through everything but the kitchen sink, only to fail in a +20 Trump, what's going to happen in those +7 or +8's?

There's 141 CDs that are less than +20 Trump. If the Dems take only 1/4 of them, that's 35 seats & the House.

The Dems better have learned a lesson here, from Lamb & Jones:

Forget the litmus tests & ideology, instead run a good candidate with the proper local values.

You don't even have to run against Trump. Run against the Trump/GOP values, and run civilly in stark contrast to the Trump/GOP hate, animosity, and divisiveness. That's what Lamb did!
Click to expand...

Yep, like I said earlier, sanity and decency won.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Lamb was nearly a perfect Dem candidate for that district
Former military
Pro gun
pro union

In a district that probably supports all of those
Click to expand...

Right. Seems that would be de rigueur political strategy everywhere ... provided it's possible, and provided the Party isn't so ideological that they can't let themselves deviate from their ideology.
We'll see.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Lamb was nearly a perfect Dem candidate for that district
Former military
Pro gun
pro union

In a district that probably supports all of those
Click to expand...
And if the Dems are smart, they'll select more of these type of candidates from their now large & growing farm team, to run in those Red +10, +15, +20 Trump districts.

They need to let the GOP die the death of a thousand litmus tests, while they in-turn resurrect the old school big-tent ideology. They claim they value tolerance? Then they may have to become tolerant of those that want strong borders, the right to armed self defense, and accept abortion as the law-of-the-land but don't want to see it celebrated or become a culture.
 
Fiddytree said:
Representative Cramer echoed the "wake-up call" memo sent out earlier, reiterating that Ryan said as much this morning. Cramer also took a risk, reevaluating and changing his mind to not go after the lone remaining Democrat in the state's congressional delegation.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Ryan's "hot take" was that Trump successfully closed the gap to within a few hundred votes.

We'll see. While there are certainly Republicans who appreciate the gravity of the situation, the impulse for retreating into a bubble appears to be strong.
 
It is funny reading and listening to the excuses and spin from the Republican Trumpsters on why Saccone lost(or at least the race is so close in a heavily Republican district).

Here's my question. If Saccone was such a poor candidate, and Lamb is basically a Republican(that's today's spin from the Republicans and their Fox news masters), then why didn't Lamb simply run as a Republican? In that district he would have had NO problem winning as a Republican. It would have been a hell of a lot easier than running as a Dem.
 
Oh, I also like this from Lamb:

Lamb sought the endorsement of, and was eventually endorsed by, the Stonewall Steel City Democrats, an LGBTQ political organization, in his bid for Congress

“I believe that all Americans deserve full and equal rights and protections under the law, and I am committed to making that the reality in America,” Lamb wrote in his responses to Stonewall’s questionnaire. “…I served in the Marines at the same time the military got rid of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and I saw firsthand that when men and women I served with had the freedom to be who they are and be fully equal, it made us all stronger.

“I believe that when everyone in America has the freedom to be who they are and have full and equal rights under the law, our communities and our country will be stronger,” Lamb added. “I will make that case to anyone, and I think that’s one of the ways we can keep changing minds and making real progress toward full equality.”
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https://www.metroweekly.com/2018/03/lgbtq-endorsed-democrat-wins-special-election-for-congress/

That's not a conservative stand, right wingers- that's about as progressive as it gets.
 
bubbabgone said:
Right. Seems that would be de rigueur political strategy everywhere ... provided it's possible, and provided the Party isn't so ideological that they can't let themselves deviate from their ideology.
We'll see.
Click to expand...
:thumbs:

I stated similarly in my post #490.
 
bubbabgone said:
Right. Seems that would be de rigueur political strategy everywhere ... provided it's possible, and provided the Party isn't so ideological that they can't let themselves deviate from their ideology.
We'll see.
Click to expand...

Which is why Pelosi is a horrible leader for the Democrats.

She is in what is likely a very safe district for Democrats, but is to far liberal for much of the rest of democrats in the US and most independants. The democrats would be better served making Mark Warner and others like him the face of the democratic party
 
Erod said:
So Lamb is pro-gun, pro-military, and supports Trump's tax cuts and tariffs, and you feel like you won?

Oh, and the seat will be gone completely in 9 months anyway, so the point was......?
Click to expand...

If it is unimportant and Lamb is Mr Super Republican who loves Trump, why the big push by Trump and Republicans to stop him? Sugar coat it to try to protect your delicate little feelings, but you know deep down.
 
This looks and feels like a Democrat who ran as a Republican. He stands with the right on the most important of issues.

Looks like the Dems may loose this one to us by default. Or the young man is confused and simply doesn't realize he is a Republican, yet... :2wave:
 
Blkdirt Farmer said:
This looks and feels like a Democrat who ran as a Republican. He stands with the right on the most important of issues.

Looks like the Dems may loose this one to us by default. Or the young man is confused and simply doesn't realize he is a Republican, yet... :2wave:
Click to expand...

Really? Read his priorities and tell me those are Republican values:

https://conorlamb.com/priorities/

Pro Union?
Pro Obamacare?
Pro Medicare and Social Security?

Also see post #493- Pro gay. He's not even close to being conservative. Sorry Charlie.
 
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Kreton said:
If it is unimportant and Lamb is Mr Super Republican who loves Trump, why the big push by Trump and Republicans to stop him? Sugar coat it to try to protect your delicate little feelings, but you know deep down.
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Several of us have already proven Erod and others wrong.
 
Cardinal said:
Ryan's "hot take" was that Trump successfully closed the gap to within a few hundred votes.

We'll see. While there are certainly Republicans who appreciate the gravity of the situation, the impulse for retreating into a bubble appears to be strong.
Click to expand...
Ryan sounds like an idiot.

And part of being competitive, is fielding good candidates. Where Repubs are the party of strict litmus tests, the Dems need to act upon the tolerance they preach and get more candidates that conform to their local districts.

The Dems have a great farm team these days. Trump has motivated a plethora of unknowns & little knowns, of all shapes & colors, to throw their hats into the mix. I'm cautiously optimistic.
 
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