Posted on 03/14/2018 7:49:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Republicans are panicked after Democrat Conor Lamb closed in on a victory over Republican Rick Saccone in a Pennsylvania congressional district that went for President Donald Trump by 20 points in 2016.
That Lamb could perform so well in a district that overwhelmingly supported Trump and had sent a Republican to Congress without much contention for the better part of two decades signaled major challenges for the party as it seeks to maintain its congressional majorities in this year's midterm elections.
"It's really hard to see how anyone looks at the factors Republicans are facing at this time, and the environment Republicans are in, and conclude anything other than that we are heading for a very difficult cycle," a Republican strategist close to the race told Business Insider.
"The narrow margin in a district the president won handily should be a serious wake up call for Republican incumbents across the map," the person added late Tuesday night. "No suburban district is safe and every candidate better be ready for the most difficult cycle of their career."
There are roughly 120 House seats currently controlled by Republicans in districts that are not as solidly Republican as Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District.
Lamb's results came on the heels of Democratic Sen. Doug Jones' shocking win in Alabama and big wins for the party in New Jersey and Virginia late last year. As of 12:30 a.m. on the East Coast, Lamb led Saccone by a slim margin of just more than 500 votes with only some absentee ballots outstanding. Lamb declared victory, and Democratic campaign groups followed suit.
Needing a huge boost from those ballots to leapfrog Lamb, Saccone told supporters he was going to "fight" until the very end. But many Democrats already proclaimed Lamb the victor.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
It was my understanding that there were absentee ballots to count today. Democrats were wrong to declare victory in light of an automatic recount too.
This phony Democrat ran as a Trump Republican. He couldn’t have won by being honest.
The GOP has lost several Congressional and one major Senate election during the past few months. Many in what were supposed to be solidly RED districts.
If this is an indicator of anything, it is this — this looks like a 2010 like sweep — IN THE OPPOSITE direction.
If Nancy Pelosi becomes speaker again in 2018, say goodbye to the Wall and Trump’s other agendas.
600 votes that cost $33 million is not a roll up
But it is one more vote in Pelosi’s bag
What incredible dumb comment. It completely overlooks the power of incumbency. Dems had held this seat until Murphy took it over.
“Like it or not, Democrat voters are really, really motivated by this Trump-hating frenzy that says if they fail to show up and RESIST, the world is quite literally going to end.”
While Trump Derangement Syndrome is very entertaining, this is the downside. Liberals are highly motivated to get out and vote. There some serious hate fueled rage voting that’s going to be going on.
RE: This phony Democrat ran as a Trump Republican. He couldn’t have won by being honest.
If being phony is what it takes, DEMOCRATS WILL DO IT.
The challenge then is to expose the phoniness. Easier said than done.
In general, yes, I think that finally throwing down the gauntlet that the U.S. is no longer going to be a patsy to the WTO and the Free-Trade Globalists will help a lot politically.
Problem is, most Republicans are refusing to embrace it.
There’s a reason for that—it’s because Dims know how to cheat. They recount and recount until they have enough votes and then claim victory.
Call me optimistic ( or pessimistic) but Nancy’s mental decline is becoming so obvious publicly that I think they’ll have to replace her
Maybe they have a stepford robot waiting
DC 'pubs have been an embarrassment to themselves and traitors to their voting fodder, starting with not voting to get rid of Obamacare. They didn't defend Roy Moore, when he was guilty of nothing.
If the nation is going down anyway, let the dems have it. The other remote possibility. DC 'pubs can pass legislation they campaigned on before the November election.
RE: Less than a 1% spread, about 640 something vote difference?
That’s an excuse. This is supposed to be a RED district. Even if the Republican won by 640 or something, it simply shows that Republicans are NOT MOTIVATED to vote and Democrats are.
Elections are won by turnout and the Dems are more motivated this cycle to turn out.
Indeed. They feel obligated to lose. It’s in their contract.
RE: My impression is that it’s close enough that mail ballots will matter, assuming they’re counted properly.
The question we have to answer is this — WHY IS IT EVEN CLOSE?
This is supposed to be a red district where we expect the Republican to win comfortably. That we even have to depend on mailed ballots to win ( if that even makes the difference ) still tells us that this cycle, the Republicans are NOT MOTIVATED to turn out.
No, it was the Democrat who was outspent 4-1. Plus, Trump held a rally for the Republican.
RE: Call me optimistic ( or pessimistic) but Nancy’s mental decline is becoming so obvious publicly that I think they’ll have to replace her
It is NOT OBVIOUS to the democrats who will be motivated to turn out. And it will be obvious to most Republicans, but heck, they are apathetic.
That kind of advantage for Dems is unsustainable.
And, the last I checked the RNC was setting fund raising records and the DNC was trying climb out of debt.
unnamed source? gutless.
Hey, I don't know the details of the race but this is not good.
I do know the wrong thing to do would be for Republicans to shun Trump.
are you certain of that 5 to 1 claim? I haven’t seen that elsewhere.
After Allegheny reports at 100% and Lamb had only a 49 vote lead, suddenly Allegheny reports another 1100 ballots and puts Lamb over 700 votes ahead. The Dead came back to vote.
Saccone was not the people's choice via the primary process; instead was chosen by RNC county leaders. Voters hate when someone decides their candidate.
Libertarians counted over 1300 votes, most of which should have gone to Saccone. They need to step aside.
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.