March 14, 2018

Without Trump or Clinton on the ballot, Democrats are doing better

Ben Jacobs, Guardian - Barack Obama lagged far behind Hillary Clinton with moderate suburban voters. Hillary Clinton lagged far behind Obama among blue collar Democrats. Conor Lamb had none of those problems on Tuesday and it should frighten Republicans in November.

With Lamb holding a slight lead after the Pennsylvania special election but the race still too close to call, the Democrat managed to successfully woo both traditional Republicans repelled by Donald Trump and the traditional Democrats repelled by Hillary Clinton.

Democrats had overperformed in special elections throughout the Trump era. They picked up 40 legislative seats as well as a Senate seat in Alabama after the GOP nominated a candidate facing credible allegations of sexual assault in Roy Moore. However, they had yet to break through at the congressional level until now. Democrats had come closest in Georgia where Jon Ossoff could not pull off a win in a prosperous traditionally Republican district where voters were repelled by Trump.

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