Penn. special Congressional election a possible litmus test for blue-collar union voters' allegiance - Entrepreneur Generations

Today's special election for a Congressional seat in southwestern Pennsylvania is an "acid test for the allegiance of working-class voters," Trip Gabriel reports for The New York Times. Union leadership is backing Democrat Conor Lamb, but it's unclear if the rank-and-file steelworkers union members in the district--who care more about social issues and voted heavily for Trump in 2016--will follow their lead.

(L-R) Lamb and Saccone

Because of this possible symbolism, especially months before the midterm Congressional elections, both Republican super PACs and small-donor Democrats from all over the country have poured millions of dollars into the race. Democrats want to shore up the narrative of a "blue wave" of rising anti-Trump and anti-Republican sentiment, and Republicans want to prove that Trump's connection with blue-collar workers is solid.

President Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have appeared at recent rallies for Saccone, and this morning President Trump tweeted: "The Economy is raging, at an all time high, and is set to get even better. Jobs and wages up. Vote for Rick Saccone and keep it going," the Observer-Reporter in Washington, Penn., reports. Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America and a member of the AFL-CIO's executive council pitched Lamb to union workers as a "God-fearing, union-supporting, gun-owning, job-protecting, pension-defending Democrat" in a recent speech, Brent Scher reports for the Washington Free Beacon.

The polls don't support a landslide either way: a Monmouth University poll found that 51 percent of voters polled say they support Lamb, compared to 45 percent who support Saccone; that's nearly a ten percentage point swing over last month's poll, in which Saccone had a small edge. Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said, "This district has voted overwhelmingly Republican in recent elections, but a large number of these voters have blue-collar Democratic roots. Lamb seems to have connected with them.

The poll was unclear about whether Trump's steel tariffs had much effect on the race. Click here for updates on the race throughout the day from the Observer-Reporter.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2FNjLI6 Penn. special Congressional election a possible litmus test for blue-collar union voters' allegiance - Entrepreneur Generations

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