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Pennsylvania Democrat: Opponent Concedes Close US House Race


Conor Lamb, the Democratic candidate for the March 13 special election in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, center, celebrates with his supporters at his election night party in Canonsburg, Pa., early March 14, 2018.
Conor Lamb, the Democratic candidate for the March 13 special election in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, center, celebrates with his supporters at his election night party in Canonsburg, Pa., early March 14, 2018.

Democrat Conor Lamb said Wednesday that his Republican opponent in a U.S. House of Representatives special election on March 13 in Pennsylvania had conceded the race, cementing a stunning Democratic upset in a long-time Republican area that President Donald Trump handily won in 2016.

“Just got off the phone with my opponent, @RickSaccone4PA, who congratulated me & graciously conceded last Tuesday’s election,” Lamb said on Twitter.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment by Saccone.

In an ominous sign for Trump’s Republicans eight months before national midterm elections, Lamb, a moderate Democrat, led Rick Saccone, a conservative, by a fraction of a percentage point in the race for the southwestern Pennsylvania seat.

Trump won the district by almost 20 points in the presidential election. He campaigned for Saccone, who started the race well ahead of Lamb.

The earliest the final election result could be certified is March 26, but the final tally could be unknown for weeks.

Lamb led Saccone by 627 votes unofficial, state returns showed last week; Lamb had 49.8 percent of the vote and Saccone 49.6 percent.

House Republicans had called the race unique, noting that Lamb, 33, a Marine Corps veteran, had distanced himself from his party’s leaders and staked out positions to the right of many Democrats.

The patchwork of small towns, farms and Pittsburgh suburbs that make up Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district has been so staunchly Republican that Democrats did not field candidates in the previous two House elections.

Come November, the district will cease to exist because boundaries have been redrawn. Both Lamb and Saccone were expected to run again, though in different districts.

The election, held to replace a Republican who resigned amid a scandal last year, was the latest forceful electoral showing for Democrats, who also won a governor’s race in Virginia and scored a U.S. Senate upset in conservative Alabama.

Lamb’s strong showing could buoy Democrats nationally as they seek to win control of the House from Republicans in the November elections. Democrats see 118 Republican-held districts in play. If they flip 24 seats, they could reclaim a House majority.

The Lamb win vindicates a strategy Democrats are using in some races to enlist candidates whose positions and ideologies are well suited to the district even while conflicting in significant ways with the positions of the Democratic leadership in Washington.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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