***Live Updates*** Rick Saccone v. Conor Lamb in PA-18 Special Election
Democrat Conor Lamb takes on Republican Rick Saccone tonight in the last significant special election before the midterms in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District.
President Donald Trump, who campaigned for Saccone on Saturday, won the district, which will not exist after this election, by nearly 20 points. But the race is a tossup, with Lamb actually slightly ahead of Saccone in the last batch of polls before election night. Lamb has run away from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and has rarely criticized Trump, making sure he isn’t the left-wing elite’s flavor of the month like Georgia’s Jon Ossoff.
The election is being held to replace former Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), who had to resign in disgrace after reports that he encouraged a woman with whom he had an affair to have an abortion.
If Lamb wins, Democrats and the legacy media will giddily advance the narrative that the election was a referendum on Trump. But Trump’s visit to California and his firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could bigfoot tonight’s election results in the Keystone State.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates throughout the evening. Polls close at 8 PM. All times eastern. Election results here.
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12:45: Lamb declares victory, says, “It took a little longer than we thought, but we did it.”
12: 05 AM: NRCC ‘Confident’ Saccone will win.
NEW: NRCC Statement on PA-18 Special Election https://t.co/7ljC6BEDd4 pic.twitter.com/mGXJFrbdN9
— NRCC (@NRCC) March 14, 2018
11:45 PM: DCCC claiming victory before all votes are counted.
DCCC claiming a victory for Conor Lamb: “These results should terrify Republicans.” pic.twitter.com/kZB9O6Qijc
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 14, 2018
It’s very possible (even likely) that Saccone (R) won the #PA18 Election Day vote. But barring an error, absentees will have put Lamb (D) over the top.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) March 14, 2018
11:40 PM:
GOP Pennsylvania congressional candidate Rick Saccone: “We are still fighting the fight. It’s not over yet … we’re not giving up” https://t.co/cdPelXtCK2
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 14, 2018
Rick Saccone just took the stage with 99 percent of precincts reporting and Lamb leading by just 847 votes. Says they’re going to keep fighting “until the end.” No concession. #PA18 pic.twitter.com/BPNDKVO4PJ
— Aaron Franco (@AFrancoTX) March 14, 2018
11:20 PM: Larry Spahr, Washington County’s director of elections, says on CNN that they will count 1,195 absentee ballots tonight and it will take a couple hours to report the results.
11:05: In Allegheny, Lamb got 752 more absentee votes than Saccone. He now leads by 847 votes.
Lamb room goes nuts at CNN reports he netted 752 votes from the Allegheny absentee. And sending a reporter to the absentee warehouse is paying off big-time for them.
— Scott Detrow (@scottdetrow) March 14, 2018
10:56 PM: Lamb is leading by 95 votes.
2 precincts are left in Westmoreland County, 9 remain to be counted in Washington County (Saccone leads in both)
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) March 14, 2018
10:40 PM:
This #PA18 situation is crazy: not only is a recount possible, but Lamb (D) & Saccone (R) must decide which district(s) to run for in the fall & collect 1,000 valid signatures before the filing deadline (3/20) in just ONE WEEK.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) March 14, 2018
10:30 PM: Washington County counting absentee ballots in the morning.
Bad news: Greene and Washington counties will not be reporting their absentee votes tonight. Votes will be counted and posted tomorrow, per @katiegp.
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) March 14, 2018
10:25 PM: Optimism at Saccone party. If he pulls it out, credit Trump for helping get out the vote.
JUST IN: Growing optimism at Rick Saccone party in Elizabeth Twp; Allegheny Co GOP Chairman predicts Saccone victory over Conor Lamb pic.twitter.com/hU0bj2Hgem
— Ralph Iannotti (@IannottiRalph) March 14, 2018
10:15 PM: On CNN, Joe Trippi, the underrated Dem. strategist, points out that Lamb is the first Dem. candidate this election cycle who has won over white working-class men. The problem, though, is that the Dem. electorate is so far to the left that it’s extremely tough for a candidate like Lamb to be nominated in order for the party to make inroads with the so-called Reagan Democrats.
10:00 PM: Nearly 4,000 absentee ballots expected to be counted by midnight in Allegheny County.
With an estimated 4,000 absentee ballots to be counted in Allegheny, according to elections chief on @CNN
— David Kaplan (@DKaplanWTAE) March 14, 2018
9:50 PM: Lamb 49.9%, Saccone 49.5.% Lamb leads by 700 votes with 94% of the vote in PA-18.
9:15 PM: Lamb 54%, Saccone 46% with 47% of the vote in so far.
People getting riled up about whether Lamb wins or loses are missing the point(s). This district is history, and Saccone winning by two or losing by two are roughly equal in terms of bad news for the GOP in November.
— Sean T at RCP (@SeanTrende) March 14, 2018
The latest from #PA18:
Allegheny County
2016: R+4%
2018 (so far): D+15%Greene County
2016: R+43%
2018 (so far): R+17%Washington County
2016: R+26%
2018 (so far): D+8%Westmoreland County
2016: R+34%
2018 (so far): R+10%— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) March 14, 2018
9:05 PM: The infamous New York Times election needle still has the race as a tossup.
Still Waiting on Westmoreland numbers–traditionally strong for Republicans.
— David Johnson WPXI (@DavidWPXI) March 14, 2018
Allegheny County Republican Chairman D. Raja speaking now. Says numbers are coming in. “You are the grassroots, and you are the ones who will put Rick over the top.” @WPXI pic.twitter.com/NmT0JAlNyv
— Mike Holden (@WPXIMikeHolden) March 14, 2018
One possibility I’ll raise here, looking at this map of where the results are better/worse for d/r than expected, is that Saccone is beating expectations in his own state legislative district (southern allegheny county), which the needle isn’t considering. pic.twitter.com/EMuugZulVp
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) March 14, 2018
8:45 PM: CNN and MSNBC, so excited to set the narrative that this special election could be a “referendum” on Trump, are giving the race special coverage even though the district will not exist because of redistricting after this election.
Still early, but Lamb is getting decent news. On average, Lamb running 3 pts ahead of our estimates in fragmentary returns. pic.twitter.com/TitBqM4RCC
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) March 14, 2018
8:35: DNC Chair Tom Perez dodged questions on CNN about whether he would encourage other Democrats to run away from Pelosi like Lamb did.
8:20 PM: Scene at Saccone watch party:
Talked with a couple supporters. Mixed feelings at the moment. One woman told me she’s very nervous. Another says #Saccone will win by a tight margin. I’m closely monitoring the race results. Stay with @WPXI. pic.twitter.com/eQXaSqpxbF
— Mike Holden (@WPXIMikeHolden) March 14, 2018
8:10 PM: Rick Santorum, who used to represent the district, points out that Lamb could win the election because he did not have to run in a primary. He says the problem Democrats have is that candidates like Lamb will not be able to win primaries dominated by left-wing “Resistance” voters.
Santorum on CNN pushes back on all the talk about Rick Saccone being a bad candidate. Cites his military background and says he’s a smart guy — concedes he’s been a poor fundraiser tho
— Alex Roarty (@Alex_Roarty) March 14, 2018
8:05 PM: GOP operatives rushing to tell their legacy media friends that they expect Saccone to lose. Of course, it’s always the candidate’s fault when things look back and never the fault of the permanent political hacks.
8:00 PM: Polls are closed.
Have a feeling tonight won’t be *that* late a night. There are extremely few early/absentee votes in PA, meaning we should be able to match #PA18 precinct results to past results fairly quickly & see what’s up.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) March 13, 2018
**Polls in PA 18 close at 8 p.m. Eastern tonight.**
If you’re watching results as they come in, pay attention to these county-by-county variations. https://t.co/dQkWNBKMV0 pic.twitter.com/e1APSCT8At
— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) March 13, 2018
ICYMI: Here’s what I’d estimate Conor Lamb (D) needs in each #PA18 county to win tonight:
Allegheny: 58%
Greene: 41%
Washington: 47%
Westmoreland: 43%— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) March 14, 2018
7:50 PM: Union voters are expected to make up one in five voters in the district. Both Lamb and Saccone supported President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.
7:45 PM: Former Obama adviser Axelrod also suggesting a potential Lamb victory may not dominate the news cycle tomorrow:
With PA-18 looking tenuous and your personal assistant led off the WH grounds for unspecified problems, firing your SecState is one way of shifting the news of the day!
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) March 13, 2018
Could the weather impact the election?
Nothing but respect for folks turning out to vote now in #PA18. When asked if he’s concerned about the snow holding back voters, Conor Lamb says he’s not worried about it. “I think it looks nice.” pic.twitter.com/yxd8pUe9ss
— Nicole D. Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 13, 2018
It’s snowing outside the Polish American Citizens Club polling location in Scott, PA. PA-18 Normally this might work against Dems, but Dem voters are fired up! Might it suppress the unenergized R turnout? pic.twitter.com/9isHfMzkas
— Derek Bauman (@derekbauman) March 13, 2018
#PA18 – Voters brave driving snow to vote in the #PASpecialElection. Greensburg VFD, Hose Co. No. 1, in Greensburg, PA. 4:32pm #cnnireport pic.twitter.com/ehcApG0ew1
— Ben Von Klemperer (@VKtrue) March 13, 2018
Saccone’s closing argument:
Saccone told voters that he will be Trump’s wingman on the economy while “far-left” Lamb is trying to “disguise” himself as a moderate just to win the election, which is the case Trump made on Saturday. Saccone also told voters that liberal Democrats are energized by their hatred of Trump, God, and the country.
“They say the other side is energized. Let me tell you, they’re energized for hate for our president. They have a hatred for our president,” Saccone told voters. “I’ve talked to so many of these on the left, and they have a hatred for our president. And I tell you, many of them have a hatred for our country. I’ll tell you some more — my wife and I saw it again today: They have a hatred for God. It’s amazing. You see it when I’m talking to them. It’s disturbing to me.”
Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone asserted that his political opponents “hate” the president, the United States, and even God.
Read more: https://t.co/YOpdWMi38r pic.twitter.com/9eWO7vXQQo
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 13, 2018
7:35 PM: Democrats are hoping a Lamb win excite the party’s base across the country.
Conor Lamb voting this morning in #PA18. Make a plan to get to the polls and VOTE TODAY! #GOTV pic.twitter.com/W3cKuUDMjJ
— Conor Lamb (@ConorLambPA) March 13, 2018
It’s Election Day in PA-18, and @ConorLambPA needs your vote! Confirm your polling place here and cast your ballot before polls close at 8pm: https://t.co/zaqKNFiQ8m pic.twitter.com/rDjrJuJF9C
— Bob Casey Jr. (@Bob_Casey) March 13, 2018
I was in southwestern Pennsylvania with @ConorLambPA last week. Something’s changing out there. You can feel the grassroots energy. And that’ll beat big money every time. Let’s bring this one home. Get out and vote, Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/Rl9EO2Ok5d
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 12, 2018
7:30 PM: Trump hoping he can push Saccone across the finish line.
The Economy is raging, at an all time high, and is set to get even better. Jobs and wages up. Vote for Rick Saccone and keep it going!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2018
Campaigning in PA for Rick Saccone at Sarris Candies a great family owned business. (Also ate… https://t.co/262d5PMZ1L
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 12, 2018
Great visit at @sarris_candies with @donaldjtrumpjr today! Because of #TaxReform Sarris is employing 80 more people and planning to expand! #PA18 pic.twitter.com/hnCZTjPCm8
— Rick Saccone (@Saccone4PA18) March 12, 2018
Liberal @PittsburghPG didn’t endorse @realDonaldTrump in 2016, but endorsed @Saccone4PA18 in tomorrow’s special because they’ve seen the positive results of the Trump agenda. That says a lot. Let’s keep the #winning going… get out and vote tomorrow. #PA18 #MAGA pic.twitter.com/1tKFRhHOL2
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 13, 2018
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