Introduction
Today, voters in Pennsylvania's current 18th district head to the polls to elect a new Congressman. The 18th district was vacated in October of last year by then-Rep. Tim Murphy, who had represented the district since 2003, as a result of allegations of sexual harassment and that he had purportedly pressured his lover to abort her pregnancy.
Public polling suggests a tight race. In 2016, President Trump won this district by 20 pts over Hillary Clinton, and Mitt Romney beat President Obama by a similar margin in 2012. However, the district sports a 6 pt Democratic registration advantage, and a slew of recent polls have shown narrow leads for Democrat Conor Lamb, while Republican internal polling has shown Republican Rick Saccone receiving late-breaking momentum as a result of a rally with the President on Saturday. Total spending in the race has reached in excess of $11million, much of it in support of Saccone (however, as a result of FEC rules, ad purchases by campaigns directly receive preferential rates, and so the total disparity between the candidates is less asymmetrical).
The winner of the contest will become Pennsylvania's 18th district's Congressman, but that district may not be around for much longer. In February, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the state's Congressional maps as a partisan gerrymander in violation of the state constitution's equal protection clause. An appeal to this decision is pending before the US Supreme Court (on a theory of violating the Elections Clause of the federal Constitution), but should a stay be denied, the existing configuration of the state's districts will be thrown out for the elections in November later this year. As a note to users looking for more information on this district, maps on Wikipedia have been updated, and the current 18th district is now largely split between the new 14th and 17th districts.
How to Vote
Find your Polling Location (or if you are in the district at all)
Voter ID requirements (this only applies to first time voters - returning voters need not present identification unless specifically noted in the poll book)
Polling Hours: 7AM - 8PM Eastern Time
Candidates and Results
