PA Bill Number: SB945
Title: Consolidating the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code; and making repeals.
Description: Consolidating the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code; and making repeals. ...
Last Action: Third consideration and final passage (199-0)
Last Action Date: Apr 17, 2024
Democrats choose Conor Lamb, a former federal prosecutor, to replace Tim Murphy :: 11/19/2017
Over 500 Democratic committee members gathered in Washington, Pa., on Sunday to pick former federal prosecutor Conor Lamb, who has never run for office before, to be their champion in a special election for the 18th Congressional District to replace Tim Murphy.
“There’s a long road ahead,” Mr. Lamb told the audience gathered inside the Washington High School gym after he earned a majority of votes on the second ballot. “There will be no doubt at the end of these next few months who represents the families of this district.”
The committee's recommendation was confirmed by the state's executive committee Sunday night. That sets Mr. Lamb up for a contest against state Rep. Rick Saccone, who Republicans chose as their champion last week, in a special election to be held March 13.
In a speech before the vote, Mr. Lamb said his “mission” would be to confront Republicans on what he called “a public hypocrisy fully equal to the private hypocrisy of Tim Murphy,” who resigned in October amid allegations he was having an extramarital affair.
Mr. Lamb, 33, of Mt. Lebanon was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Pittsburgh office until he stepped down just after Mr. Murphy stepped down. He is a Marine Corps veteran and prosecutor whose cases included the successful prosecution of a Naval Academy instructor who lied under oath about sexual misconduct involving female service members.
Mr. Lamb is from a notable public family: His uncle Michael Lamb is Pittsburgh’s city controller, and his grandfather Thomas Lamb was the Democratic leader in the state Senate during the 1970s, later becoming Gov. Robert P. Casey’s top legislative aide. Asked whether his name helped his prospects, Mr. Lamb told reporters, “Most people that I talked to wanted to know who I was.”
Mr. Lamb was widely regarded as a moderate choice for Democrats. While his Republican rival is a strident conservative on issues like gun rights and opposing abortion rights, Mr. Lamb carved out a less extreme position, stressing jobs and infrastructure.
Pressed on social issues, he told reporters, “I think we need to have the conversation,” about gun regulation. As for abortion, “choice is the law of the land,” and he would uphold that law, despite a Catholic faith that opposes abortion. Asked whether he would support California Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House, he said answering would be “presumptuous.”
None of that stopped the state Republican Party from issuing a statement calling him “Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked candidate” and “too liberal for one of the nation’s most conservative districts.”
Party leaders, including state chair Marcel Groen, took pains to assert that the choice lay solely with committee people, who are elected every four years. Several leaders told the gathering and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that they had not made calls on behalf of any candidate.
In fact, Democrats touted their process as more open than the one employed by Republicans the previous weekend. Mr. Saccone was picked by over 250 “conferees” selected by party leaders behind closed doors at a golf club.
“The other side does not quite pick their people the way we’re picking ours,” Mr. Groen told attendees. “This is our attempt to empower you.” And the race would be closely watched as a bellwether for next year’s elections, he said. “We will send a message that the time for divisiveness, the time for not telling the truth, the time for coming up with facts that don’t exist is over.”
Mr. Lamb got the nod because “he relates well with the voters in the district,”said Darrin Kelly, vice president of the Allegheny County Labor Council. “He’s a Marine officer, which commands so much respect.”
Six other Democrats were in contention: psychologist Rueben Brock, Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli, former Allegheny County Councilor Mike Crossey, former Veterans Administration official Pam Iovino, writer Keith Seewald and emergency physician Bob Solomon.
Choosing among them at the gathering were some 554 committee members — three-fifths of the 901 that party officials said were eligible to attend. Party rules required a candidate to earn an outright majority of votes cast, with candidates earning less than 10 percent support to be dropped in early rounds of voting.
Mr. Lamb jumped out to an early lead in the first round of voting with 225 votes — just 53 short of what he would have needed for an outright majority. Ms. Cerilli garnered 153 votes, with Ms. Iovino trailing with 90. None of the other candidates earned more than 10 percent support and were dropped.
Mr. Lamb won the second round of voting, with 319 votes, more than twice the total of second-place finisher Ms. Cerilli.
Both Ms. Cerilli and Ms. Iovino pledged to support Mr. Lamb. “What’s next for me is March 13 and campaigning for the Democratic nominee,” Ms. Iovino said.
Democrats sounded unified at least in their glee to take on Mr. Saccone.
“I believe the Republicans have nominated their weakest candidate, their most extreme candidate,” U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle of Forest Hills told committee members.
Still, Democrats were taking nothing for granted. The 18th District encompasses four counties — Allegheny, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland — and voted in favor of President Donald Trump by a 20-point margin last year.
Prior to Sunday’s vote, activist Mykie Reidy said “we were all very surprised” by Mr. Saccone’s nomination. Many Democrats expected the GOP to back state Sen. Guy Reschenthaler of Allegheny County.
But while “a lot of people are saying this was a gift to Democrats, I personally was not jumping up and down,” Ms. Reidy said. “One of Saccone’s main issues is being a big pal of the NRA, and that’s a hard thing to run against in the 18th District. We are going to have to be very careful about what our message is with Rick Saccone.”
CORRECTION, Posted Nov. 20, 2017: The date of the special election to fill Tim Murphy’s 18th Congressional District seat is March 13. An earlier version of this story had the incorrect date.
