TRUMP BETS THE HOUSE
Doubles down for GOP’er in tight Pa. race
President Trump touted “steel and business” Monday as he made an 11th-hour push to sway voters in a tight race for a western Pennsylvania House seat that could have national repercussions.
Trump visited the district twice to boost Republican Rick Saccone and slam his special Democratic rival, Conor Lamb, including at a raucous rally near Pittsburgh Saturday.
On the day before the election, Trump weighed in again on Twitter as Saccone tried to fend off a strong challenge by Lamb in a district the president won by nearly 20 points in 2016.
“The Pittsburgh Post Gazette just endorsed Rick Saccone for Congress,” Trump tweeted.
“He will be much better for steel and business. Very strong on experience and what our Country needs. Lamb will always vote for Pelosi and Dems. Will raise taxes, weak on Crime and Border.”
Later Monday, Donald Trump Jr. stumped for Saccone at a sweet shop in Canonsburg.
“I want someone in that office who will fight for America,” Trump Jr. said.
Saccone, 60, has struggled with an electorate that heavily favored Trump just 16 months ago.
Lamb, 33, raised about $4 million himself; Saccone took in less than $1 million. But the Republican Party and GOP PACs spent about $10 million on attack ads, fearing that a win by Lamb could be an alarming harbinger of the GOP’s fate in November’s midterm elections.
Democrats must flip 24 GOPheld seats to claim a House majority, and an upset would embolden them as they look to win in places where the party has lost ground.
Saccone has tried to make the race about experience, touting his four decades in the public and private sectors, from an Air Force career and a stint working in North Korea to his current job as a state representative.
Lamb, a former Marine officer who comes from an established Allegheny County political family, opposes sweeping gun restrictions, endorses Trump’s new steel tariffs and said he wouldn’t back Nancy Pelosi for House speaker if Democrats won a majority.
Bill Kortz, a former steelworker and a Democratic state lawmaker from Allegheny County, said Lamb’s opposition to more gun control was key.
“He’s a Marine,” Kortz said. “He’s good with guns. He’s good with the Second Amendment.”
The seat was vacated last year by Republican pro-lifer Tim Murphy, who resigned after an adulterous affair in which he allegedly wanted his partner to get an abortion.