Lamb unofficial winner of 18th District special election
Barbara S. Miller/Observer-Reporter
Trays of absentee ballots await processing and counting at the Washington County elections office early Wednesday.
Conor Lamb speaks to his supporters on election night.
March came in like a lion and might well go out with a Lamb in Congress.
With all precincts and absentee ballots counted across the 18th Congressional District, Democrat Conor Lamb was listed as the unofficial winner of Tuesday’s special election over Republican Rick Saccone.
Lamb declared victory in the 18th District special election in a late-night announcement to supporters at Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe.
“It took a little while longer than we thought, but we did it,” Lamb said while clinging to a 579-vote lead late into Tuesday night.
But Washington County’s nearly 1,200 absentee vote total showed Lamb winning an additional 62 votes. The 201 absentee ballots in Greene County benefited Saccone by just 14, not nearly enough to close the gap. With both Washington and Greene counties tabulating their absentee ballots, Lamb currently holds an unofficial lead of 627 votes.
Lamb received 113,813 votes compared to Saccone’s 113,186.
Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Jack Hanna issued a statement congratulating Lamb, noting Democrats prevailed in a district President Donald Trump won by nearly 20 points.
“Let it be known that the Blue Wave of 2018 began in Pennsylvania with Conor’s victory,” Hanna said. “And this is only the beginning of the wave.”
Provisional and military ballots still must be counted, but they are not expected to change the outcome.
Washington County precincts issued 90 provisional ballots Tuesday. It’s up to the county canvass board, which will be sworn in Friday, to determine their validity. There were no provisional ballots in Greene County.
In Allegheny County, spokeswoman Amie Downs reported there were 128 provisional emergency ballots and 99 military ballots left to be counted, along with another 112 absentee votes that were not counted Tuesday night because of minor defects that did not allow them to be fed through an optical scanner.
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Scott Kelley, who manages Greene County’s voting machines, reads the results of 201 absentee ballots in the county as network tech Doug Murray imports the votes into the elections system Wednesday morning.
Washington and Greene elections officials are expected to begin their canvass – or official vote count – Friday to finalize the results. The county elections boards then could certify the results next week.
There are rumblings, however, GOP officials may challenge the election results.
Monitoring the counting of Washington County absentee ballots from about 1 to 5:30 a.m. Wednesday were Washington County Republican Party Chairman Mark Hrutkay and attorney Sean Logue, who litigated previous election matters on behalf of GOP candidates.
“I think the campaign has to review what the numbers are,” Logue said. “I haven’t gone over the vote totals precinct by precinct.”
It was not known if Saccone’s campaign would challenge the results. Saccone had not conceded the race as of Wednesday afternoon and a campaign spokesperson did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Barbara Miller/Observer-Reporter
Troy Breese of the Washington County elections office prepares absentee ballots for counting after midnight Wednesday.
Washington County’s elections office received a letter Wednesday from Cipriani and Werner, a law firm representing the Rick for Congress campaign, asking that the elections office preserve all records related the election as required by state law. A challenge could take place within five days of the initial certification of results, and Spahr said the cost of filing a challenge with the Washington County prothonotary’s office is $130 per precinct.
Spahr said he knew of no voting irregularities in Washington County aside from a few technical glitches and people calling about not being able to vote when it turned out they live outside the boundaries of the 18th Congressional District.
Greene County Elections Director Tina Kiger said there were no major issues there beside confusion over congressional districts.
Turnout in Washington County was 43.4 percent among registered voters in the 18th District. Saccone carried 74 of the 125 Washington County precincts in the 18th Congressional District.
Lamb cut into Saccone’s lead in three of six North Strabane Township precincts, but Saccone carried reliably Republican Peters Township, the municipality with the largest population in Washington County. The GOP candidate also dominated in neighboring Cecil Township, winning five of six precincts, while Lamb easily won Washington and East Washington.
In Greene County, turnout was 40.3 percent. Saccone won 20 of the 22 precincts there, although Lamb carried two of the three precincts in Waynesburg.