“The young man last night that ran, he said, ‘Oh, I’m like Trump”.
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But that won’t be easy when much of the party is whipped into a fervor over those topics. And the kind of themes they were hoping to lean on during the midterms – Trump tax cuts, the newly signed steel tariffs and anti-Nancy Pelosi (she’s the House minority leader) rhetoric – might not work as much as they expect. And an embarrassment to the office he holds and the country he is supposed to lead. It was his first time commenting on the race, seen as yet another blow to the Republican’s control of the House.
Saccone was perceived to be weak, partly in comparison with Lamb whom some suggested the Democrats had picked out of central casting for his good looks and his articulation.
It’s always risky to over interpret the results of any single special election, my colleague James Hohmann noted in a fascinating analysis of the Pennsylvania election results.
With the Democrat in a special House race in Pennsylvania hanging on to a slender lead, Republicans are exploring a recount and even a lawsuit to dispute what they fear will be an upset victory for the Democratic Party in a Republican-strong district.
Steve Schale, a top Democratic strategist based in Florida, said that Lamb’s personal connections to the district differentiate him from “generic Democrats” like Jon Ossoff, who lost his high-profile challenge in Georgia’s red sixth district a year ago. “Vote for Rick Saccone and keep it going!”
“For Democrats, this race was an affirmation that we should run everywhere, and that we have opportunities to connect with voters and make gains across demographic groups”, he told Business Insider in an email. Elections are noisy. Better question to ask: where is #PA18 in the distribution of winnable seats for the Democrats?
Mark Devin Harris, a Republican strategist for Pittsburgh political-consulting firm Cold Park Media tweeted on March 13 the election was “over” once Lamb secured such large victories in Bethel Park precincts.
Trump won more than 100 districts nationwide by narrower margins than that, arguably making them comparably competitive now. They competed in special elections where turnout is unpredictable, ran against flawed Republican nominees and, importantly, emerged unscathed from primaries.
Regardless of their candidate, there was one thing voters could agree on: The combative TV advertisements were nothing more than an annoyance. They also blanketed the district with spots promoting the Republican tax cuts passed in December and sent dozens of field staff to the state to turn out the party’s base. Jeff Van Drew as “a bipartisan consensus builder” who wins his majority Republican legislative district easily. Need proof? The California Democratic Party declined to endorse Sen.
Lamb could be headed for a similar squeeze. Thanks to a federal court decision, district lines in that region of Pennsylvania have changed.
Lamb is pictured on Moulton’s Serve America PAC’s website, which features 19 Democratic candidates whose biographies outline their service.
On Wednesday, Paul Ryan echoed Trump’s remarks, saying that Lamb ran as a “conservative”.
The GOP is considering requesting that election officials impound all ballots and machines in preparation for a recount request, according to a person familiar with the deliberations.
Democrats stress that may not be true in every race, dismissing concerns that some policy positions may be too liberal to sell in November.
“As we head into the 2018 midterms, the momentum is undeniable for Democratic candidates running up and down the ballot”, Democratic National Committee head Tom Perez said. Trump won the 9th by 68-27.
Recent GOP history shows Democrats the very double-edged sword at issue. They also funded parts of the campaign by investing in local field staff, analytical models, polling and get-out-the-vote efforts in conjunction with the campaign. “This is something that you are not going to see repeated”.
The special congressional race carries high stakes for both of the main USA parties.
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“I was proud to be there”, Moulton said.
