The next battleground district: PA 18

A few months ago, Republican House Representative, Tim Murphy, was busted by his former mistress who said he encouraged her to get an abortion. Curiously, Tim Murphy was one of those typical “family values/pro-life” candidates during campaign season and a typical movement conservative in Congress. Anyway, he decided to quit so he could spend more time with his family or something. 🙄

So, the PA-18 House seat is up for grabs and there will be a special election in March. The two candidates currently contending for the seat are Conor Lamb- Democrat and Rick Saccone- Republican.

Here are brief descriptions of each from a recent Reuters article on the race:

But the fledgling candidacy of Conor Lamb, a 33-year-old Marine veteran and former assistant U.S. attorney, has Democrats there dreaming of an upset in a special congressional election that could offer the best test yet of the strength of a possible Democratic wave forming for November’s congressional elections.

…

Saccone is a staunch Christian conservative, backing gun rights, opposing abortion rights and introducing a resolution declaring 2012 to be “the year of the Bible.” While Democrats were surprised a more moderate candidate was not chosen to oppose Lamb, Christopher Nicholas, a Pennsylvania-based Republican consultant, said Saccone “fits the district.”

The district is largely suburban, exurban and rural. It went for Trump by 20 points in 2016.

To be honest, I don’t meet too many Trumpers in Pittsburgh. Clinton won Allegheny county by a whopping number and beat Obama’s 2012 tally by 14000 votes. But I have relatives who I think are in Murphy’s district and except for one of them, they are none too keen on Trump. Appalled would be more descriptive.

Anyway, this will be a good one to watch. I think the key is going to be getting the vote out. How many potential Clinton voters stayed home in 2016 because the media couldn’t stop harping on her emails? I’m guessing that there are a lot. There may be a way to turn this district blue. We’ll see.

Here’s a map of my district, represented by Mike Doyle (I live approximately where the O is) and PA 18. Yep, very close.

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