Democrat Claims Victory in Close Election for Pennsylvania U.S. House Seat

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2018-03-14

Democratic candidate Conor Lamb declared victory early Wednesday in a special election for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives representing a district outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Election officials have not yet released final results of Tuesday's voting and the margin between Lamb and Republican candidate Rick Saccone was too close for media organizations to project a winner.

With districts counting absentee ballots overnight, Lamb held a lead of about 500 votes out of more than 227,000 cast.

Lamb, a 33-year-old Marine veteran and former prosecutor, made his claim of victory in a speech to supporters, telling them, "We did it."

Saccone, a 60-year-old state representative, said earlier his campaign would be working through the night and was not done fighting.

The race has drawn national attention as a potential signal for how national midterm elections for Congress will go in November. President Donald Trump won the Pennsylvania district by about 20 points in 2016.

The winner will fill the seat of Republican Representative Tim Murphy who resigned last year amid a sex scandal.

Source: Voice of America

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