U.S. House District 17
Incomplete results as of midnight Tuesday indicated Republican Sean Parnell may have won the District 17 congressional seat from under incumbent Democrat Conor Lamb, D-17, in Butler County.
Preliminary reports from the nine Cranberry Township precincts falling in District 17 suggest Lamb lost at the polls by a margin of over 2,900 votes.
Lamb secured 1,709 votes in Cranberry Township Tuesday, while Parnell secured 4,619.
Though Lamb appears to have won the majority of votes in Allegheny County, Parnell seems to have dominated in Beaver County enough to give him an edge on the District 17 seat.The results will be clearer in coming days, as Butler County's poll results don't include mail-in, absentee, military, write-in or provisional ballots.Parnell couldn't be reached for comment early Wednesday.Lamb, who assumed office in 2018, said he got good vibes with just four hours to the close of polls.“I feel good,” Lamb said. “I'm just happy that things seem to be going smoothly and peacefully.”Lamb visited Cranberry Township polls Tuesday evening after stopping by a Moon Township precinct that morning.Morning constituency attendance appeared to be particularly heavy, according to Lamb. He said people seemed to be “eager to get their vote in.”“By all appearances, this is going to be the largest voter turnout of all time,” Lamb said. “Which I think is just a great thing for the country.”
Like candidates in other races, Lamb said he tried not to argue politics with people at the polls representing candidates in opposing parties Tuesday.“Campaigning in the COVID era is different and difficult,” Lamb said. “It's frustrating, but we've worked hard to innovate and do things differently and reach people every way we can.”Lamb's Election Day agenda included an event at the Steamfitters Union hall in Pittsburgh.The event — opened only to media that RSVPed — took place as the polls closed at 8 p.m.Lamb said Election Day marked the end of an unusual campaign season for both himself and Parnell.“We both made our arguments,” Lamb said. “We had a fair chance to tell people where we stood.”<i>Eagle staff photographer Seb Foltz contributed to this report.</i>
