The results of highly anticipated special election in Pennsylvania are too close to call, as an outsider Democrat tries to edge out a Trump-supporting Republican in what was thought to be a solidly red district.
Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican state Representative Rick Saccone are battling for the US House seat in Pennsylvania's 18th district, in what many have billed as a referendum on the GOP’s ability to hold its House majority in November.
Though the district voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump by 20 per cent in 2016, Mr Lamb and Mr Saccone candidates were neck-in-neck as votes poured in on Tuesday night.
Mr Lamb started the night with a strong lead over his opponent, which narrowed significantly over the course of the evening. He pulled strength from the liberal Allegheny county, where he lead Mr Saccone by more than 10,000 votes. But with 99 per cent of precincts reporting – and 6,000 absentee ballots still unread – the Democrat lead at some points by less than 1,000 votes.
Two counties – Greene and Washington – said they would not count their absentee ballots until Wednesday.
Mr Saccone and Mr Lamb are competing for the seat vacated by Republican Representative Tim Murphy, who resigned amid a personal scandal in October. The district itself won’t last past the midterms in 2018 – the current Pennsylvania map was recently struck down by a court for being biased toward Republicans. But the race remains a powerful symbol for what could happen in the midterms.
Signalling the importance of the race, Mr Saccone rallied the full force of the White House to his side in the weeks before the election, making appearances with everyone from Vice President Mike Pence to Mr Trump’s son, Don Jr.
Mr Trump himself praised the candidate in a last-minute rally in Pennsylvania this weekend, calling him “a very fine human being”. Mr Saccone said in an election-day interview that he hoped to be the president’s “wingman” in Washington.
But it was unclear on Tuesday night whether tying himself to the president’s coattails would help the representative beat Mr Lamb, a Marine veteran and former prosecutor who ran an outsider Democratic campaign.
Perhaps in an attempt to appeal to the Trump voters in Pennsylvania's 18th, Mr Lamb has repeatedly claimed the election was not about the president, but about local issues. He also steered clear of traditional Democratic issues like gun control, and expressed support for Mr Trump’s tariff plan.
The candidate surged in the polls last month, after an impressive round of fundraising in which he raked in $3.3m compared to Mr Saccone’s $703,000. Outside Republican groups rushed to make up the difference, flooding the district with $10m in funding. It remained to be seen whether their efforts paid off.
