Polls closed at 8 PM ET in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, where Republican Rick Saccone faces Democrat Conor Lamb in a special election for the final months of former Republican Rep. Tim Murphy’s term. This Western Pennsylvania seat backed Trump 58-39 and Romney 58-41, but Republicans are worried that Trump’s unpopularity, as well as a weak campaign by Saccone and a strong effort from Lamb, will allow Democrats to flip this district. While a new map ordered by the state Supreme Court will dramatically change this seat’s boundaries ahead of the November general election, Republican outside groups have still spent millions to avoid what would be an embarrassing loss.
To help follow along as the results come in, David Jarman has set “benchmarks” for all four counties in the district—target numbers that Lamb would have to meet in order to narrowly win. We’re liveblogging the results below, and you can also follow our coverage on Twitter.
Results: State | New York Times | Associated Press
Wednesday, Mar 14, 2018 · 1:42:38 AM +00:00
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David Nir
This is a good time for a reminder that, once again, this district never should have been competitive to begin with. Donald Trump carried it by a giant 58-39 margin in 2016, and Democrats weren’t even able to field a candidate here either that year or in 2014. Yet Republicans have had to spend over $10 million to try to defend this seat. They simply can’t do that for seats this red in November—and there are a ton of seats that are bluer.