Pennsylvania Democrat Conor Lamb declares stunning election victory in the heart of Trump country

Trump won the district by 20 points in 2016, and he dubbed Democrat candidate ‘Lamb the Sham’ - but the baby-faced 33-year-old Marine veteran may have the last laugh

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Conor Lamb, Democratic congressional candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th district, greets supporters at an election night celebration in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, early on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:39pm, 14 Mar 2018Updated: 1:39pm, 14 Mar 2018

Conor Lamb, a moderate Democrat, claimed victory in Tuesday’s election for a US House of Representatives seat in Pennsylvania that is seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s performance and a litmus test for midterm elections in November.

“It took a little longer than we thought but we did it. You did it,” Lamb told cheering supporters as results showed him ahead of Republican rival Rick Saccone by 579 votes, or 0.3 of a percentage point.

It was a stunning victory for the baby-faced Democrat in what was once considered a rock-solid Republican bastion. Trump - who visited Pennsylvania on the weekend to stage a major rally for Saccone - won by 20 points in the 2016 presidential vote.

Saccone had yet to concede. “We’re still fighting the fight. It’s not over yet. We’re going to fight all the way to the end. You know I never give up,” Saccone told cheering supporters.

A recount is possible, pending a legal challenge. But there is no automatic recount in Pennsylvania, no matter how close the race

But win or lose, the strong showing by Lamb, a 33-year-old Marine veteran, buoys Democrats nationally as they seek to win control of the US House from Republicans in the November midterm elections.

Conor Lamb, the Democratic candidate for the March 13 special election in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District celebrates with his supporters at his election night party in Canonsburg early Wednesday. Photo: AP

Supporters of US Democratic congressional candidate Conor Lamb react to the results coming in on Tuesday night. Photo: Reuters

“This is one extra indicator that confirms a fairly pro-Democratic environment, pro-Democratic enough that the House should be in play. Democrats should be able to compete in a lot of different places across the country,” said Kyle Kondik, an analyst at the University of Virginia Centre for Politics.

Republican dominance had been so strong in the district, a patchwork of small towns, farms and Pittsburgh suburbs, that Democrats ran no candidates in the previous two US House elections here. Lamb’s image as a moderate seemed to have worked in his favour.