If there were a weathervane gauging the direction of the political world, then the wind would be blowing toward a progressive wave sweeping through the nation. Since Donald Trump was elected to the Presidency, more than 35 state seats have shifted in favor of Democrats throughout the country in comparison to just four seats for Republicans. As a result, there is renewed attention on every single piece of election news throughout the country in 2018 and this means all eyes are shifting toward Pennsylvania’s special election on March 13th. Democrat Conor Lamb will be taking on Republican Rick Saccone for a state seat representing the 18th Congressional District in PA. Traditionally a deep red seat, Conor Lamb actually has some momentum on his side thanks to a strong campaign and fresh endorsement from a political action committee named End Citizens United.
The reason that Conor Lamb has so much momentum in Pennsylvania comes from three primary sources. The first source is that voters around the country are quickly growing tired of the Republican agenda under the ‘leadership’ of Donald Trump, as evidenced by how many seats have been flipped over the past year. The second source is that Conor Lamb is an exceptional candidate with broad outreach to both rural and city voters, particularly showing his appeal to labor union workers. The final source is an endorsement from End Citizens United that will bring in progressive attention and electricity to his campaign in a big way.
End Citizens United is a massive grassroots network of progressives who have been focused on bringing energy to their base in order to fight for campaign finance reform among other things. End Citizens United was initially created two years ago in response to the 2010 SCOTUS decision regarding Citizens United, a conservative group that was focused on bringing more dark money into politics. Now, End Citizens United is helping to put progressives into a position to win elections if they agree to keep fighting for campaign finance reform. This, apparently, is a mission that Conor Lamb has been more than eager to take onto his platform.
Ultimately, the Special Election on March 13th will be an indicator as to the temperament of the nation. Donald Trump’s endorsement of Rick Saccone should bring in many conservatives but will it be enough to quell what has clearly been one of the biggest blue waves of enthusiasm in recent memory? We can only wait and see.
You may also read “End Citizens United begins GOP ditch drive” for more.