The national Republican establishment is racing into Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District with wheelbarrows full of cash, millions of dollars in advertising, and big-name endorsers, trying to eke out a win in a red district. Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone leads Democrat Conor Lamb by just a few points, and even Republican operatives admit that they’re trying to prop up a weak candidate:
“I watched 30 seconds of Rick Saccone on video and I watched 30 seconds of Conor Lamb on video, and I quickly decided this would be a race,” said Corry Bliss, the executive director of the Congressional Leadership Fund. “We wanted to engage early and help define this race and make it a referendum on Nancy Pelosi.”
Republican groups are running $4.7 million in television and radio ads and have dozens of paid staffers on the ground, while national Democratic groups have run less than $300,000 in ads for Lamb. And a win for Saccone is a major White House priority:
[Mike] Pence lavished praise on Saccone during a 22-minute speech at the packed Bethel Park Community Center, where some attendees had waited over an hour in line to get inside. [...] Before speaking, the vice president hosted a backstage fundraiser for Saccone that netted about $250,000, according to one person who attended the event.
Saccone spoke for only about three minutes, vowing to be a loyal Trump ally and promoting the administration’s recently passed tax reform bill, before introducing Pence. The disparity spoke to the national party's imprint on the race: Saccone is the candidate, but Washington Republicans are playing an outsize role in his campaign.
Lamb, by contrast is running a local campaign—if partially by default since national Democratic groups are focusing their efforts elsewhere with an eye on November. That focus is an important sign of where we are right now: Republicans are scrambling desperately for a win in a district Donald Trump carried by nearly 20 points, and Democrats are focusing on the big push to November. But Republicans can do that, because they have so much outside money on their side.
Conor Lamb is relying on small-dollar donors like you. Can you donate $3 to help him turn western Pennsylvania blue?