Posted on 03/13/2018 11:17:04 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
CANONSBURG, PA — Democrat Conor Lamb declared victory early Wednesday morning in his razor-tight bid for a Pittsburgh-area House special election, although the race hasn't yet been called.
The seat, which voted for President Trump in 2016 by a 20-point margin, was once considered an easy win for Republicans. But Lamb currently leads Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone by 579 ballots, with some absentee ballots outstanding.
"It took a little longer than we thought, but we did it. You did it," Lamb told supporters at his election night party shortly before 1 a.m., after he was introduced as "congressman-elect."
"We followed what I learned in the Marines — leave no one behind. We went everywhere, we talked to everyone, we invited everyone in."
Lamb's campaign apparently believes that Republican Rick Saccone does not have a path to victory in those remaining ballots, leading to the decision to claim victory
Saccone promised earlier in the night to press, with his campaign telling MSNBC shortly after Lamb's remarks that they will not concede at this point. Media outlets have also not yet called the race.
As of 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, Lamb leads by 579 votes, with a few thousand absentee ballots left to count, largely from GOP-leaning areas.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
I guaran-damn-tee you that those 418 votes are fraudulent.
Unfortunately Democrats will count them in Allegheny County
PA-18 is 96% non-Hispanic white, and my guess is the electorate is even whiter. If you're convinced that minorities are stealing elections everywhere, this would be a really strange place to do that. I've seen snowmen less white than this district.
+1 million!!!
People here need to read your words and heed them! We're not losing because of unproven, imaginary vote fraud. We're losing because we're nominating the same type of lousy swamp creatures that Trump stomped all over in the primary.
Only way dems can win the House is elect people like lamb in swing districts. They would have to run on Trumps agenda and dems would commit suicide in 2020 if they try to impeach Trump.
With Democrats there is almost always voter fraud, and I didn't mean to suggest illegals were voting there. The Dems will use the classic tried and true method of pushing their guy over the top with manufactured votes, "found votes", and "absentee ballots".
Don't you ever notice that when the margin is razor thin, the Dems always find a way to tip the scales by a few votes? Statistically you'd think it would fall either way on average. But it never does.
I fear that for all his efforts as a Pie Pipper giving jobs to steel and coal workers, Trump is going to be thanked with same workers joining unions and campaigning against him...
This is my only objection to tariffs, ie if it translates the Chinese arrogant right to sell us with our own unions arrogantly holding us hostage. What a bunch of fools
IF Lamb is seated, which is no guarantee at all with all of the absentees from Washington and Westmoreland still out, then he will have absolutely zero mandate and as soon as he starts voting with Pelosi against steel and coal his ox will be gored considering that he won’t even be able to run in this district again.
Bullsh!t.
All this shows is that PA Democrats won't vote (enough) for GOPe candidates who don't strongly embrace Trump's agenda. This Democrat guy was a Marine and he talked a good game.
An enthusiastic Deplorable Republican would have had a much better chance against Lamb. This guy Saccone wasn't enthusiastic for Trump as far as I could see, and he still came damn close in PA, which remains a heavily Democratic state. This figured to be an uphill battle for a squish.
GOP candidates who embrace Trump energetically and run on his agenda in November will do well. "Business as usual" GOP squishes will get crushed in Democratic states like PA. The Dems running in red states are going to get smashed in November, especially in the Senate races—although Rick Scott in FL may have destroyed his chances with his gun control capitulation.
You never miss a chance to revert to your #NeverTrump roots, A27...
Lamb has been campaigning as if he was a Conservative Republican! That’s the only reason this is even close - I mean Lamb has said that he opposes the ban on late-term abortions and Democrat Ed Rendell called Lamb a “pro-life Democrat”.
The Democrats have been LYING THROUGH THEIR TEETH during this whole election - what’s new - but unfortunately, the GOPe nominated the “its my turn” GOPe candidate.
As long as the Democrats gin up their votes through lying, cheating and stealing, and the GOPe nominates milquetoast candidates, we are going to see these easily won districts come down to tight margins (if not complete Democrat blow-outs)!
The Democrats were probably filling out absentee ballots all night. They have many ways to cheat, but absentee ballots are one of their favorites.
That Democrats who voted for Trump would be stupid enough to vote for the young liar, Lamb, because he said he would support the President’s programs is unbelievable. No wonder they believed Obama.
Look at it this way, in order for him to win he had to play the “Conservative Dem” role much the same as Manchin. Once he starts to actually vote and sides with Schumer and Pelosi, the GOP can hang that around his neck in November.
The absentees from Washington and Westmoreland have been counted.
And as for Lamb having no mandate, you could say the same about Saccone.
Being a union member and an ultra conservative, have faith. The average working union man in right to work states just wants to work, take care of his family, obey the law, and most of the rank and file are conservative. The union party bosses are the dem zealots ( sadly they set the pol agenda) an item not lost on the membership.
These men and women are mostly solid Americans, they know BS when they hear it and Trump speaks their language. Trump is bringing their jobs back and their self respect, they will remember in the fall.
Are you sure they have been counted already?
The article says, “...with some absentee ballots outstanding”.
Also, what about the out-of-country military and other voters? I think sometimes it takes a few more days for those to all be considered. Lets not forget the provisional ballots too. Of course, I am still be hopeful, as ever slight, as always.
GOPe, R Pacs... do you get it now????? You aren’t going to win running the same message you did for the last 15 years!!!! You blew it big time, it was obvious from the start you didn’t get 2016 and ran a campaign here like it never happened!!!!
If you want to win you better realize to do so you need those Trump MAGA I and D voters to show up!!! And they aren’t going to for the same old message you used for decades that they didn’t show up for!!
An inexcusable loss. If the messaging you used in PA 18 is your plan for the fall you will lose the house, it’s not even debatable.
Darn. I was being hopeful for the military vote.
I was even hoping for those provisional votes. How close does it have to be for a recount? A few hundred sounds awful close. Geeze, I wonder how many illegals they have up there. Not to mention ‘new shipped in for this purpose’ votes.
All these little losses don’t bode well in my opinion for a good mid term for us. Who’s blowing smoke up whose arse?
I have to agree with you. It irks me to no end the GOP isn’t putting up true America/Trump supporting candidates. They are not only complicit, they are mental!
We have to get involved and take over the local GOPs. That is all there is too it.
DNC runs a fake conservative, outspent GOPe, 5 to 1, wins a seat that will not exist after November 2018 by 600(+/-)votes and this is the the victory of the century. Remember there only two news companies left in America and they are both liberal!
Sorry, but Dems didn’t need to Cheat to win this one... the GOPe, Saccone and their various paces blew this race... flat out.
Trump won by offering something different.
In this race R’s offered exactly the same things they had before Trump.. and not surprisingly the MAGA I and D voters who voted for Trump and never voted R before didn’t show up to vote R now.
If the GOPe and their PACs plan on using the messaging they used here come fall, they will handily lose the house.
Gross incompetence in messaging by the GOPe is why this race was lost. Even if Saccone would have squeaked this out, they are still heading for losses in the fall with this messaging. This thing should not have been close.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.