2018 Special Election Elected 50 – 50 (755 votes)
2018 General Election PA 17 Elected 56 — 44
Another special congressional election
There is a vacancy in Pennsylvania 18 because the Republican incumbent, Tim Murphy, resigned. LIke some politicians who find themselves in trouble, the incumbent had a girlfriend. Unlike most public figures in trouble, the incumbent had a pregnant girlfriend. Like some boyfriends, the incumbent urged an abortion. Unlike more careful public figures, the incumbent put his recommendations in writing — in text messages. Those written recommendations were particularly unfortunate for the incumbent because his most salient political position was opposition to abortion. Acquiescing to colleagues who feared that they might be tainted by the incumbent’s hypocrisy, carelessness, and stupidity, Murphy resigned.
Conor Lamb https://conorlamb.com/ is the Democratic nominee for the special election on March 13. Conor Lamb is local — University of Pennsylvania (where he was a Howard Dean supporter as an undergraduate) and University of Pennsylvania Law School. In his early thirties, he comes from a successful political family. His grandfather was the Democratic Majority Leader in the Pennsylvania state Senate and a Bob Casey cabinet member. His Uncle Michael is the City Controller for Pittsburgh. His father is a lobbyist.
Like many of the Democratic candidates, Conor Lamb was in the military. He was a Captain in the Marines. Unlike some of the most compelling Democratic candidates, he was not in Iraq. Conor Lamb was a prosecutor in Okinawa, primarily prosecuting cases of sexual assault. He remains a member of the reserves.
Conor Lamb is a prosecutor in civilian life. An assistant US Attorney in Pittsburgh, he built partnerships with law enforcement and community members in areas affected by the opioid problem. He earned a national reputation for his work. He thinks of himself as a prosecutor. He congratulated Doug Jones on his Senate victory as a fellow prosecutor.
There was no primary for this special election — neither for the Democrats or the Republicans. Conor Lamb was selected in a semi-public Democratic convention process — public statements by each candidate, but a secret ballot by five hundred locally elected District Committee members.
Prior to the convention, Conor Lamb had not spoken about issues. Even after the convention, he has not been too talkative . He has identified his top issues: infrastructure, affordable health care and combating the opioid epidemic. He describes the so-called Republican tax reform as a broken promise. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote:
Mr. Lamb was widely regarded as a moderate choice for Democrats. While his Republican rival is a strident conservative on issues like gun rights and opposing abortion rights, Mr. Lamb carved out a less extreme position, stressing jobs and infrastructure.
Pressed on social issues, he told reporters, “I think we need to have the conversation,” about gun regulation. As for abortion, “choice is the law of the land,” and he would uphold that law, despite a Catholic faith that opposes abortion. Asked whether he would support California Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House, he said answering would be “presumptuous.”
None of that stopped the state Republican Party from issuing a statement calling him “Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked candidate” and “too liberal for one of the nation’s most conservative districts.”
Conor Lamb opponent, in this Republican district, is a former counterintelligence officer with a PhD in international affairs who distinguishes himself from the previous incumbent by explaining twice, in the first six lines of his web page, that he is a faithful husband. His wife is a Korean who he met while serving in Korea.
Conor Lamb’s opponent says nothing about his political positions on his website and, so far, nothing to the press He has been in the state senate for seven years, so he has a record. The American Conservative Union rates his voting as being in a category between 80 and 89% in agreement with their positions and gives him an award for conservative achievement.
A Conor Lamb https://conorlamb.com/ victory here would not be as dramatic and unexpected as Doug Jones’ victory in Alabama. It would be special, though. Think about a donation. This election is on March 13. A Democratic victory would do more to build momentum for a wave in November.
An afterthought (not about March coming in like a Lamb). President Trump touted the Republicans 5-0 record in Congressional special elections. As usual, he lied (or was mistaken). The Republicans are actually 5-1 in Congressional special elections. Trump ignores a California race where the Republican was not one of the top two candidates for the runoff. If Conor Lamb wins this special election the scorecard for special elections, all but one of which had been Republican Districts, would be:
Congressional Special Elections: Republicans 5 Democrats 2
US Senate Special Elections Republicans 0 Democrats 1
