Free Republic

What if they held a special election and nobody won? That's more or less what happened in southwestern Pennsylvania, in the special election to fill the vacancy in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District. Democrat Conor Lamb narrowly defeated Republican Rick Saccone -- by 627 votes out of 228,378 counted -- in a district held by Republican Tim Murphy since 2003. More to the point, the district was carried by a 20-point margin by Republican Donald Trump in 2016 and by a 58-41 percent margin by Republican Mitt Romney in 2012. Lamb's margin seems likely to hold up under a possible recount,...

President Donald Trump praised Conor Lamb, the winner of the Congressional special election in Pennsylvania, for running a smart campaign on his agenda. “He said very nice things about me. I kept saying, is he a Republican? He sounded like a Republican to me,” Trump said. “But I guess when you’re popular in a certain area, that’s probably a good tactic.” Trump made his remarks during a closed-door fundraiser in Missouri on Wednesday evening. Audio of his remarks leaked to several media outlets. “It’s a pretty smart race, actually,” Trump admitted. “But he ran and he ran on that basis....

The PA-18 race isn’t over yet (there could still be a recount), but even the prospect of a narrow win by Democratic candidate Conor Lamb is being taken as a sign by Democrats looking for a path to victory in 2018. Republicans spent millions on ads tying Lamb to Nancy Pelosi. That attempt to nationalize the race and tie the Dem candidate to the unpopular party leader has worked for Republicans in the past. But this time, Lamb came out of the gate distancing himself from Pelosi, saying he would not support her for Speaker if Democrats took back...

Serious shenanigans may have gone down in Pennsylvania's special election on Tuesday. From the Washington Free Beacon:Lamb currently leads Republican Rick Saccone by just 627 votes and there are still absentee and provisional ballots that have not been tabulated, but Republicans are already preparing for the likely recount and even a possible lawsuit regarding issues at polling sites, according to a Republican source familiar with the deliberations. "We're actively investigating three instances and likely to file court action on them," the source said. Among the listed concerns are "miscalibrated" voting machines in Allegheny County, the only county of four in...

President Trump’s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports horrify Republican leaders in Congress — but they could yet pay political dividends. Trump’s move, cast by the White House as an effort to protect American manufacturing, has significant appeal in the Rust Belt states that were pivotal to his shock 2016 election win. Some Democrats in the region worry that senior figures in their party, especially those whose bases are in affluent coastal cities, are underestimating the political potency of Trump’s announcement. “It worries me as a Democrat that the national Democrats don’t see that Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and...

Last evening I began watching the PA-18th-CD election returns on the New York Times newspaper election results site...which is by far the best in the business for election reporting and background information. As the initial election returns flowed in, the Times indicated that, though the race was very close, it appeared like Conon Lamb would eke out a victory scoring 52%-48% over Rick Saccone. Then about fifteen minutes later, the Times suddenly changed its prediction to Saccone winning by a 62%-38% over Lamb. The Times said that they had information as to voting patterns in the Conservative counties, indicating a...

Democrat, Hillary Clinton, yesterday, while traveling in India & her adoring MSNBC Media Goon, Al Veshi bad mouths "Steelworkers" in the "RED" states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, etc., Blue Collar "Steel, etc." Workers as stupid and dumb because they did not vote for her in the POTUS campaign of 2016, won by Republican, Donald J. Trump. The very same Democrat, Hillary Clinton that told West Virginia coal miners, that she, along with Democrats, POTUS, Barack Hussein Obama, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Debbi Wasserman Schultz, etc. would shut down coal mining in the entire USA and they would all...

I try to like people, but John Kasich represents a real challenge. The guy really rubs me the wrong way. Somehow, in the midst of all the Tillerson-Pompeo talk, Kasich turned up on MSNBC this morning. Speaking of the special election in Pennsylvania today, Kasich bragged about having been elected to Congress at age 30. That, according to Kasich, makes 33-year old Dem candidate Conor Lamb “a little old.” Kasich made his 2020 strategy pretty clear, saying that the emergence of third parties “is more realistic than it’s ever been.” When host Stephanie Ruhle asked him flat out if he...

It could come down to a recount. Democrat Conor Lamb has already declared victory over Republican Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania’s special House election, but Republicans say they aren’t giving up until every vote is counted. The contest has still not been called, but Lamb leads Saccone by a few hundred votes. There’s no mandatory recount for a federal race in Pennsylvania, but Republicans have the option of petitioning for one. "This race is too close to call and we’re ready to ensure that every legal vote is counted,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Matt Gorman said late Tuesday. “Once they...

In the most astonishingly bone-headed move since nominating Mitt Romney for President, the GOP establishment spent major cash to help elect Democrat Conor Lamb in last night’s highly contested PA-18 special election. Yes, you read that right. Failed Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan and his Congressional Leadership Fund pushed a Democrat to victory over a Republican with direct mail advertising touting support “for our Second Amendment Rights.” I’ll repeat that again. A so-called GOP PAC led by Paul Ryan spent thousands of dollars in a direct mail campaign to convince voters that Conor Lamb was a conservative who would protect...

Remember when President Barack Obama insulted small-town Pennsylvania voters by saying they bitterly “cling to guns or religion”? In next week’s special election, there is a strange new twist to this condescending attitude towards people of faith coming from the Democratic congressional candidate, Conor Lamb. In a recent interview, Lamb oddly invoked his religion to defend his position in support of late-term abortion. He tells us that he never learned the term “pro-life” in Catholic school, and therefore he would vote against any limits on abortion, and would even oppose a recent bill to ban abortion past 20 weeks of...

A thread to discuss the results. I feel like Lamb has a lot of momentum, has run as a moderate, and has run a better campaign. I'll predict he'll win tonight (although I'd like to see Saccone win). NYT does a good job with election results.

As of this writing, Democrat Conor Lamb is clinging to a lead of roughly 600 votes in the special election for Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District. There are probably not enough uncounted votes out there for Republican Rick Saccone to pull out the win. It also really doesn’t matter much, one way or the other (unless you are a Democrat living in the 18th who feels strongly about having a Democrat represent you in Washington). Here’s why: The House is increasingly polarized. There was a time that a narrowed House majority for a party would make for interesting politics in Washington,...

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...

Polls are now closed.

This could be the biggest lie of the election season . . . On CNN this morning, former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell called Conor Lamb “pro-life.” The truth is that Lamb, the Dem candidate in today’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district, has said he would have voted against a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, the point at which the unborn can feel pain. That makes Lamb radically pro-abortion, Ed. Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

updated 2 hours ago Conor Lamb will win Western Pennsylvania's special election race for Congress on Tuesday if there is a surge in Democratic turnout similar to what has been seen in other special elections over the past year, according to a Monmouth University poll out Monday. The Monmouth poll's “Democratic surge” model shows Lamb collecting 51 percent of the vote compared with Saccone's 45 percent, while 1 percent of likely voters would opt for a third-party candidate and 3 percent remain undecided. The poll's margin of error is 5.1 percent. Monmouth said Lamb holds a slim advantage within the...

Is the PA-18th-CD election going to be like the Texas Primary race, a Republican political devastation of the Democrat. Pollsters are calling this a tight race that could go either way. The Pollsters told us Texas was turning "Democrat Blue" in massive measure, but, in reality, after last weeks primary election, Texas is more "Red" then ever before. Pollsters wrong once again. Has the POTUS, Trump crusade to PA-18-CD saved the day for the Republicans. Will Republican, Rick Saccone prevail. After the magnificent Trump presentation, in front of five thousand people, my money is on Rick Saccone by at least...

Heads Up! Trump Rally at 7:00 EST. Carried on FNC. Its in Moon Township outside Pittsburgh. For GOP candidate Saccone. Trump carried the district in 2016.

Trump/Saccone "Massive" Political Rally tonight being held at Atlantic Aviation, FBO, Moon Township, PA (Pittsburgh) commencing at 7:00PM local time. Doors open at 4:00PM, local time. Rally will be fully covered On Fox News Channel at 8:00PM EST and by live stream, the Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN) commencing at 3:00PM, local time. Be there, or, tune in to FNC or RSBN to support both POTUS, Trump & Republican, Candidate, Rick Saccone!!! Go Trump, Go Saccone, Go MAGA!!!