All eyes have been on the special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, where Democrat Conor Lamb faced off against Republican Rick Saccone, a district that Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election by 20 points.
The GOP suffered another massive loss on Tuesday night as Conor Lamb prevailed in a district Donald Trump won by 20 points in the 2016 presidential election. The Republican challenger should have won easily in the 18th district, but just like Alabama’s special election in 2017, Democrats were able to turn a formerly ruby-red area of the country blue.
While some organizations are still saying the race is “too close to call,” NBC declared Lamb the winner after absentee ballots in all but one county were counted. The remaining county, Greene, has only around 203 absentee ballots. Even if every one of them go for Saccone, it will not be enough to upset Lamb’s lead. A recount, however, is to be expected.
We have the Washington numbers and NBC is calling Conor Lamb the apparent winner in PA-18
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) March 14, 2018
This also marks yet another significant loss for a Trump-endorsed Congressional candidate, especially since he endorsed by the loser of the Alabama primaries, Luther Strange, as well as the loser of the general Senate election, Roy Moore. His endorsement also didn’t help the Republican candidate in Virginia’s race for governor in 2017, Ed Gillespie, where the GOP lost in yet another state Trump won in 2016.
Trump aides began distancing themselves from Saccone before the votes were finished being counted.
Republicans are already bailing on Saccone as the votes are being counted. #PA18 pic.twitter.com/6WIP5EuN7z
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 14, 2018
Political analysts believe Lamb’s win in Pennsylvania signifies a coming shift in the 2018 midterm races in November. Democrats need to hold 26 seats in the Senate this year, as compared to only 8 for Republicans, but holding their 26 and flipping two red seats looks much more possible following the races in Alabama and Pennsylvania.
Conor Lamb has accompanied his grandmother to vote in #PA18 pic.twitter.com/HSBBp9i1bc
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) March 13, 2018
While the GOP believed at the start of 2017 that they may even be blessed with their fillibuster-proof 60 seats this year, that dream is most certainly not going to come true thanks to their massively unpopular president and a blue wave of Democratic voters dedicated to change.
Featured image via Bloomberg
