A special election for Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district was held on March 13, 2018, following the resignation of Republican representative Tim Murphy.[1] Murphy, who held the seat since January 3, 2003, declared his intent to resign on October 5, 2017, and vacated his seat on October 21 that year. In a close race, Democrat Conor Lamb defeated Republican Rick Saccone 49.86% to 49.53%. Saccone conceded the race eight days after the election.[2]
Eight-term incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Tim Murphy was involved in a sex scandal consisting of his allegedly having extramarital sexual relations with a woman and then asking her to have an abortion. This was particularly damaging because Murphy identifies as a pro-life politician. Murphy subsequently announced that he was resigning and that he would leave office on October 21.[3][4]
Primary elections were not held in the race. Instead, nominees were chosen by each party. The Republican Party held a special convention on November 11, 2017, to choose a nominee through a conferee process involving 215 local Republican activists.[5][6] The Democratic Party held their nominating convention on November 19, 2017, in the gym at Washington High School in Washington, Pennsylvania.[7] The Libertarian Party of Allegheny County and the Libertarian Party of Washington County nominated a candidate via party caucus.[8]
The Libertarian candidate was Pittsburgh attorney Drew Gray Miller. Prior to this, however, a primary candidate was Philip Moses, a high school government teacher. Moses ended his campaign in early 2018.
Republicans and aligned groups spent more than twice as much as Democrats and aligned groups on the special election.[50] Although Lamb's campaign fund raised more than Saccone's campaign fund, Saccone benefited from far more spending by outside groups than Lamb.[50]
The Republican Party and outside pro-Republican "independent expenditure" groups spent almost $10.7 million to support Saccone or oppose Lamb in the campaign, while $2.6 million in independent expenditures was spent in support of Lamb.[51] Fourteen outside groups (seven Republican, seven Democrat) comprised over 95% of the spending. For the Republican side, the major groups spending money on Saccone's behalf were Paul Ryan's Congressional Leadership Fund, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Republican National Committee, and the pro-Trump groups America First Action and 45Committee. For the Democratic side, the major groups spending money on Lamb's behalf were the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Patriot Majority PAC, and the VoteVets.org Action Fund.[51]
Debates
KDKA-TV hosted the first debate on February 19, 2018.[52] WTAE-TV hosted the second and final debate on March 3, 2018, at 7 PM EST. The debate was hosted live by WTAE-TV along with the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh.[53][54]
Lamb declared victory just after midnight on March 14.[122] With all precincts reporting, Lamb led Saccone by 627 votes, a margin of 0.2 percent. NBC News declared Lamb the apparent winner early on the morning of March 14, based on the remaining absentee ballots from Washington County.[123]The New York Times followed suit later that afternoon.[38] A few other outlets declared Lamb the winner in what has been described as "a major upset",[124][125] but others withheld judgment, citing the closeness of the race and the likelihood of a recount.[126] Saccone conceded the race to Lamb on March 21, the day that the last votes were counted.[127] Allegheny County certified its election results on April 2, making Conor Lamb's victory official.[128] He was sworn in on April 12.
Lamb's victory came primarily on the strength of winning the Allegheny County portion of the district by almost 15,400 votes, as he lost the rest of the district by 14,700 votes.[129]
↑ "NRA Endorses Rick Saccone for U.S House of Representatives". NRA-ILA. January 23, 2018. Archived from the original on January 24, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018. The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) has endorsed State RepresentativeRick Saccone in the March 13, 2018 Special Election in the 18thCongressional District of Pennsylvania.
↑ "Unions Key as Pennsylvania Special Election Nears". IBEW. Marine veteran and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Conor Lamb is the Democratic candidate for the seat and has been endorsed by the state AFL-CIO and the IBEW
↑ Potter, Chris (January 12, 2018). "Trump visit to support Saccone shows high stakes of District 18 race". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Republicans "see real trouble," said Tim Waters, the national political director for the United Steelworkers. The union is backing Mr. Saccone's rival, Democrat Conor Lamb.
↑ Conor Lamb. "2018 Steel City Stonewall Democrats Endorsement Questionnaire"(PDF). Steel City Stonewall Democrats. Retrieved February 27, 2018. I am grateful to have your support and endorsement in my current race for the PA-18 special election, and hope to have it going forward into the primary and general elections so that we can continue to work as allies in the fight for full equality.[permanent dead link]
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