As of the early hours on Wednesday morning, there was no clear winner in the special election for Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, though the numbers seemed to suggest Democrat Conor Lamb would take the seat. But no matter who ultimately prevails, a tight race signaled bad news for Republicans.
Only sixteen months ago, President Trump locked down Pennsylvania’s 18th with almost 60 percent of the vote, defeating Hillary Clinton by just short of a 20-point margin. Former Republican Rep. Tim Murphy, whose resignation forced Tuesday’s election, had won eight consecutive terms since 2002 — and by wide margins. Voters in the district selected Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2012 and 2008 respectively, also by comfortable margins.
To make matters worse, Republicans funneled more than $10 million into the race, easily outspending Democrats.
To go from winning big for years — even in a historically Democratic district — to spending millions defending the seat was bad enough for the GOP. But candidate Rick Saccone’s failure to command at least an easy lead over Lamb speaks volumes.
Lamb reportedly won 78.5 percent of 2016 Clinton votes in the district, while Saccone only won 53 percent of Trump’s. Attribute that to some combination of Lamb being an effective candidate, Saccone being an underwhelming one, and Trump’s unpopularity motivating his opponents to show up at the polls.
But no matter how you spin it, the loss is a glaring failure for Republicans.
