Here’s the Pennsylvania District Republicans Are Panicked About

Perhaps you’ve heard that Republicans are in a panic over the special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th district. In a nutshell, here’s why:

The 18th is a strong Republican district, one that Donald Trump won by 19 points. Even a centrist Democrat shouldn’t have much of a chance. But Conor Lamb has been steadily gaining ground since the start of the year, despite Republicans outspending Democrats by $9 million to $1 million.

Also: this is one of those gerrymandered districts that a judge tossed out a couple of weeks ago. Under the new map, neither candidate will live in the new 18th district, which means that winning this election has no real long-term effect.

The election is next Tuesday. Stay tuned.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate