Democrat Lamb eyes seat in 18th
“Conor has a unique way of being assertive without offending or polarizing people,” said David Hickton, former U.S. attorney, who relied on Mr. Lamb to prosecute violent criminals and drug traffickers.
“When he asserted himself, he didn’t do it in a way that destroyed the other side. He did it in a way that made them understand,” said Mr. Hickton, who views him as strong-minded but not intractable.
Abortion, guns and Pelosi
Both the Lamb and Saccone campaigns have tried to define Mr. Lamb in terms of his stance on abortion, gun control and whether House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi should step down. Mr. Lamb said his positions go beyond simple pro and con.
On abortion: “I’m Catholic. I believe life begins at conception, but I’m also American, and I believe in the separation of church and state. A woman’s right to choose is the law of the land, and I support that.”
On Ms. Pelosi: “I can’t vote for Nancy Pelosi as leader. It’s not personal. I just think we need a new generation of leaders across the board.”
On guns: “Most of the cases that I saw [as a prosecutor] were committed with handguns by people who are already not allowed to have those firearms. So I think what we should do is strengthen the background check system we have. Because that’s where people actually say they want to work together.”
In Washington Mr. Lamb also hopes to work on education, transportation, infrastructure and addiction issues — areas where there is at least some bipartisan agreement.
He is a proponent of expanding the availability of naloxone, the drug that reverses the effects of a heroin overdose. Opponents worry that the availability of naloxone encourages abuse. “It saves people’s lives,” Mr. Lamb said, and buys time and the possibility of rehabilitation for them.
“You have to fight hard against these people who are killing our people with heroin and with violent crimes but you have to lend a hand to people with addiction who need help,” Mr. Lamb said. “If someone is an addict and not a heroin trafficker we shouldn’t prosecute them; we should try to help them.”
The character Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” inspired him to pursue law.
“That image of a lawy e r standing up in a criminal case and doing the right thing always stuck with me,” he said. “I love the idea of building cases and really going after bad guys.”
Sometimes, though, the bad guys win.
That’s what happened with a rape case he tried in military court in Okinawa in 2012 when jurors declined to convict. Mr. Lamb remembers it as the worst day of his life.
“I had really gotten to know the woman who was the victim, and they just didn’t believe her despite everything,” he said. “It was my job to get justice for her and I didn’t do it. The guy got off, and I feel like she’s going to go through the rest of her life feeling like she stuck her neck out. It’s not easy to accuse someone who wears the same uniform as you of something so bad.”
It still stings, said Mr. Lamb, who remembers returning to his barracks angry but having to pick himself back up for another trial soon after.
“I leaned back on what they teach you in the Marines: that the truest test of leadership comes not when things are good,” he said. “I’m grateful for situations that have tested me and shaped me.”
That includes his time in boot camp at Quantico in 2010.
“What they really do during boot camp above all else is they create conditions of extreme stress — whether through sleep deprivation or the cold and muddy weather or just noise or whatever it is — and you have to make decisions, not just for yourself, but for the Marines you’re supposed to be leading at any given moment,” he said.
Mr. Lamb graduated at the top of his class at both Naval Justice School and at basic school for platoon leaders.
“Basic is a physically demanding, intellectually demanding, very competitive school and it’s very unusual for a lawyer to come into that and finish like Conor did,” said Katy Spicer, who served with him on active duty and is now in the Reserves and working in private practice in Washington, D.C.
“He has the most incredible and honest work ethic of anybody that I have ever met,” Ms. Spicer said.
“The Conor recipe is ‘I’m going to come in, I’m going to work hard, I’m going to do the right thing,’ and in the end he is going to finish at the top just like he did in the Marine Corps,” she said.