mobanmarketGOP Sen. John KennedyJohn Neely KennedyMORE (La.) said Wednesday that the Republican Party “got their ass[es] kicked,” in the Pennsylvania special election the night before.
Democrat Connor Lamb declared victory over Republican Rick Saccone in the special House race for Pennsylvania’s 18th District. The district has been GOP-held for years, and President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE won it in 2016 by more than 20 points.
“We got our ass kicked. It’s what the political prognosticators called a good ol’ fashioned ass-kicking,” Kennedy told CNN’s Manu Raju.
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Republican leaders are publicly downplaying the results, pointing out that Lamb didn’t have to face a primary and saying he ran as a pro-gun conservative.
After all the absentee ballots were counted, Lamb had 627 more votes than his Republican opponent, who has yet to officially concede.
Click Here: Fjallraven Kanken Art Spring Landscape Backpacks
“It took a little longer than we thought, but we did it. You did it,” Lamb told supporters at his election night party shortly before 1 a.m., after he was introduced as “congressman-elect.”
Since 2016, the Republican Party has witnessed a number loses in special elections that normally would have been easy wins, most prominently the victory of Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama.
Lamb said he would not support House Minority Leader Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiTrump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names Black lawmakers unveil bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol Pelosi: Georgia primary ‘disgrace’ could preview an election debacle in November MORE (Calif.) as leader of the party if Democrats took the House in the midterm elections. He also supports gun rights and — although he has said Roe v. Wade is the law of the land — he is personally opposed to abortion.
The race, though not consequential to the balance of power in Congress at the moment, was seen as a bellwether of Republican power and a test of whether Trump was hurting the party.
The upset marks a significant loss for the GOP and has the party worried about the possibility of losing the House this November.