MT. LEBANON, Pa. — Republican Rick Saccone and Democrat Conor Lamb are facing off Tuesday to represent Pennsylvania’s 18th district, a place where no Democrats even bothered to run in the last two cycles and President Trump won by 20 points in 2016.
Polls show the two candidates are neck-and-neck and Tuesday’s winner is anyone’s guess. Medill News Service spoke with voters at polling places in Mt. Lebanon, Boston, West Newton and Rostraver to understand who they were supporting and why.
Name: Paul Silver
Age: 61
Occupation: Musician
Hometown: Mt. Lebanon
Who did you vote for?: Conor Lamb
Why?: “Because I like a lot of the positions he’s taken, but more importantly, I’m very upset with who we have as president and I see this as a referendum as well for what’s going on in the country.”
Who did you vote for the 2016 election?: Hillary Clinton
Name: Ann Becker
Age: 50
Occupation: Stay-at-home mom
Hometown: Mt. Lebanon
Who did you vote for?: Conor Lamb
Why?: “One of the first things I heard from Rick Saccone was, ‘I’m going to go to Washington and support President Trump’s agenda.’ And I didn’t like that regardless of him being a Republican and me just immediately dismissing him — I was like, you know, I want a representative who is going to go to Washington to fight for the agenda for this district. I want him to go and fight for what we need in this district, what we want in the district, not just be someone who’s going to be fighting for the president’s agenda. [Saccone] all along said that Conor Lamb would be the (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi rubber stamp when he himself has said that same thing about President Trump. But back to Conor, I think he’s a good man, an honest man, he’s a decent man, he connects with people and he has the same values that I do. He’s going to fight for the things that I want.”
Who did you vote for the 2016 election?: Hillary Clinton
Name: Patricia Ream
Age: 76
Occupation: Retired school teacher
Hometown: Belle Vernon
Who did you vote for?: Conor Lamb
Why?: “Because he’s not Republican. I like him — I don’t like the looks of the other guy. He looks shifty to me — he looks like an old-time politician who would take money from anybody, so I voted for Conor Lamb.”
Who did you vote for the 2016 election?: Hillary Clinton
Name: Despina Naylor
Age: 54
Occupation: Housewife
Hometown: Rostraver
Who did you vote for?: Rick Saccone
Why?: “Just because of Donald Trump. I don’t agree with everything that he says, but he’s a man of word and what he promised during the primaries when he was running for office, he kept his promises or at least he’s trying to and I just don’t want to put any more kinks or put any more barriers in front of the president, so that’s why I voted for Saccone. Not because I know anything about him, just because he’s a Republican.”
Who did you vote for the 2016 election?: Donald Trump
Name: Linda Hand
Age: 63
Occupation: Registered nurse
Hometown: Mt. Lebanon
Who did you vote for?: Conor Lamb
Why?: “I like Conor Lamb because I feel like we need a complete change of what’s going on in politics, and I feel like he’s grassroots and he’s down-to-earth and I agreed with most of what he said.”
“I don’t like the gun things. I really think there should be stricter issues dealt with guns. Other than that — his background as far as religion — I like that he separates that out from politics as well.”
Who did you vote for the 2016 election?: Hillary Clinton
Why?: “I do not like the whole Republican stance.”
Name: Larry Callaway
Age: 70
Occupation: Retired steelworker
Hometown: Rostraver
Who did you vote for?: Conor Lamb
Why?: “I’m just trying to change a few things in the government system. Seems like, I don’t know, it’s been corrupt. I’m just trying to change it.”
Who did you vote for the 2016 election?: Donald Trump
Why?: “I wanted a change, and I guess I got a real big change. More than I anticipated.”
Why switch the party you voted for in 2016I?: “I like what Lamb is doing, what I hear him talking about. The advertisements on T.V., it seems like he’s more truthful than Saccone.”
Name: Bill Holesapple
Age: 53
Occupation: Mill worker
Hometown: Rostraver
Who did you vote for?: Rick Saccone
Why?: “He’s for the average guy. Anti-Pelosi type people, which I think that Conor Lamb is, definitely (a supporter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.) Just like they say, he’s one of them. Gotta break the cycle.”
Who did you vote for the 2016 election?: Donald Trump
Why?; “He speaks for himself. I mean look what he’s done so far. In my position, where I’m at, my job’s more secure. Everybody I know is better off now than they were prior to the last president, so that’s what I anticipated and that’s what I got.”
Name: Daniel Jacobs
Age: 18 (first-time voter)
Occupation: High school student
Hometown: Boston, PA
Who did you vote for?: Rick Saccone
Why?: “Pretty much what they said — I side more with conservative stuff.”
Name: Theresa Jacobs
Age: 51
Occupation: School bus driver
Hometown: Boston, PA
Who did you vote for?: Rick Saccone
Why?: “I’m more conservative — that’s why I went with Saccone. I feel that he’s done a great job as the legislator.” (Saccone is her state senator for the 39th district)
Who did you vote for the 2016 election?: Donald Trump
Why?: “I wouldn’t have voted for Hillary if she was the last person on Earth.”
Name: Kathleen Howell
Age: 70
Occupation: Retired
Hometown: Boston
Who did you vote for?: Rick Saccone
Why?: “He’s a hometown guy. I really was torn between both of them. I think they’re both, I really couldn’t decide until the last minute who I was going to vote for.”
Who did you vote for the 2016 election?: Hillary Clinton
Why?: “I voted for Hillary and I didn’t like either one of them!”
Published in conjunction with 
