WAYNESBURG, Pa. (AP) – Democrat Conor Lamb went to Pennsylvania’s coal country for help in the final days before the first congressional election of 2018, telling union members Sunday that he won’t forget their support in a close race widely viewed as a key test of support for Republicans ahead of November’s midterms.
Lamb’s race against Republican Rick Saccone has crystallized the debate over whether a younger, charismatic Democrat appealing to win back traditionally Democratic voters can overcome a veteran Republican counting on party loyalty to carry him to victory in a GOP-leaning district at a time when President Donald Trump is pushing hard for the Republican, but remains a divisive figure.
Lamb, wearing muddy work boots, jeans and a green fleece top, told those inside a packed cinderblock building on the fairgrounds that keeping promises to fully fund labor union pensions, Medicare and Social Security is “non-negotiable.” He attacked Republicans as forgetting what it means to honor a promise.
“People have paid into these programs over the course of a lifetime,” Lamb told more than 300 retired coal miners and Democratic activists in Waynesburg, 40 miles south of Pittsburgh. “I do not believe, as (House Speaker) Paul Ryan does, that these are entitlements or another form of welfare.”
Trump has visited the district twice – including a rally Saturday night – in an effort to buoy Republican Saccone in a southwestern Pennsylvania district Trump won by nearly 20 percentage points over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Republican groups have heavily outspent Democratic groups on the race, a sign of the GOP’s fear of losing.