Pence may join push to keep 18th District GOP
State Rep. Rick Saccone’s campaign confirmed Tuesday he could get some added exposure from Vice President Mike Pence in his bid to replace former congressman Tim Murphy.
Saccone campaign manager Patrick Geho said the GOP candidate’s campaign had been contacted about Pence possibly stumping within the 18th Congressional District, and provided White House officials with potential dates.
Geho said no definite plans for Pence’s participation or specific dates and locations had been confirmed.
The vice president “is jumping into the midterm elections, planning visits soon to Nevada and Pennsylvania and helping recruit a candidate in Ohio amid an aggressive push to retain Republican control of Congress,” according to a story in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal.
Murphy, a Republican, resigned late last year amid scandals involving problems within his office and an extramarital affair.
Saccone, of Elizabeth, faces Democrat Conor Lamb, a former federal prosecutor and U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Mt. Lebanon, in a March 13 special election. The 18th District, which Murphy represented for 14 years, has trended Republican even though it includes more registered Democrats than Republicans. It takes in parts of Washington, Greene, Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. President Donald Trump carried Washington and Greene counties by large margins in the 2016 election.
“We’re excited and certainly hope it comes to fruition,” Geho said of Pence’s possible help. “Anytime a person of a vice president’s stature comes to the district … I think it’s a very positive thing for the businesses and residents of the district to have that national spotlight shone on them.”