If Democratic voters want a candidate who has dealt with the crucial issues a senator will grapple with next year, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb told a group of Norwin Democrats he is the only one in the crowded primary field who has the track record for voting for what they want.
Pennsylvania will play a critical role this election year in ensuring that legislation like protecting a union’s right to organize, protecting a woman’s right to an abortion, and advancing President Biden’s legislative agenda, said Lamb, who spoke Thursday to about 25 Democrats at the Norwin Public Library in Irwin.
“The women of color are counting on you to protect their right to votes,” Lamb said of the efforts to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Two more Democratic votes in the Senate also will end the filibuster, which has blocked a number of pieces of the president’s legislative agenda, Lamb said.
“The right to vote is in the Constitution. The filibuster is not,” Lamb said.
Lamb wants to replace Sen. Pat Toomey, a Lehigh County Republican who decided not to run for reelection. Toomey’s decision to leave the Senate has opened the floodgates to a boatload of hopefuls — 12 on the Democratic side and 15 on the GOP side.
Lamb announced last August he would shoot for the Senate, rather than wait to see how the Congressional districts would be redrawn to eliminate one of Pennsylvania’s seats in the House.
“This is unprecedented,” in terms of the number of candidates seeking their party’s nomination for Senate, and it won’t be reduced until candidates file their nominating petitions, said Terry Madonna, a longtime Pennsylvania pollster and political observer. Whomever wins the nomination, likely will get no more than 35% of the votes cast because there will be so many candidates, Madonna said.
Lamb is in the top two or three Democratic candidates in that big field — sharing the spotlight and the media attention with Lt. Gov. John Fetterman of Braddock and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia, said Madonna, a fellow in residence at Millersville University. Early polling, some 90 days before the primary, is not decisive, Madonna said.
What Lamb has going for him in his battle to win the nomination is that he is not from Philadelphia. Conversely, what Lamb has going against him is that he is not from Philadelphia, meaning he has to get name recognition east of the Susquehanna River. As a lieutenant governor, Fetterman has the advantage of having statewide recognition, although being second in command has not been a launching pad to victory in a statewide race, as evidenced by Mark Singel, Gov. Casey’s lieutenant governor, Madonna noted.
The only others candidates with Western Pennsylvania ties, Walter Sluzynisky of Monaca and Alan Shank of Homer City, are not known much outside their own community.
Lamb was the beneficiary of national media attention in February 2018 when he beat state Sen. Rick Saccone in a special election in the 18th District. The election was seen as one of the harbingers of voter sentiment about Donald Trump prior to the mid-term elections. Lamb got recognition that exceeded the boundaries of the 18th Congressional District in suburban Pittsburgh.
To remind his audience of the upset, Lamb pointed out to the gathering he has the ability to attract voters who had supported Trump, who had won his district buy 20 points in 2016. He said he would conduct research to target voters who have been turned off by Trump.
None of the Democratic candidates garnered enough votes in the recent state committee meeting to get an endorsement, but Lamb gathered the most votes. Without mentioning any of his top Democratic opponents, he joked about Fetterman’s penchant for wearing shorts, even the day he met Biden at the collapsed Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh. Fetterman has come under fire for dodging events.
Lamb summed up the Republican field of GOP hopefuls for the Senate nomination as saying he does not know what to think about it. Television host Dr. Mehmet Oz, has captured the attention of the media, even though his connection to Pennsylvania is virtually nonexistent.
But, lurking in the shadows is Trump. Lamb says he expects Trump will get involved in the Senate race in the fall.
Trump can “singlehandedly take away” what can be a good bi-partisan effort as passing beneficial legislation, Lamb said.
“Trump’s main goal is for the rest of us to fail,” Lamb said.
Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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