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Representative Conor Lamb announced Friday he is joining the crowded race for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat, seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2022 election.
“We have to build on our majority and tell the truth about what’s really going on in people’s lives,” Representative Lamb said in a video. “We need to raise pay for working people, protect your retirement and make sure you have health care when you need it. All of these issues are on the line next year. And our opponents will lie about them, just like they lie about elections.”
He made it official during an afternoon event before a crowd of about 200 people at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 5 in Pittsburgh’s South Side.
Congressman Conor Lamb announces he’s running for U.S. Senate before a crowd of 200 supporters at IBEW local #5 on Pittsburgh’s South Side. pic.twitter.com/bn8EJn6b1O
— Paul Guggenheimer (@PGuggenheimer) August 6, 2021
“I am Conor Lamb. I am from here. I left to go to college and law school in Philadelphia, and then I served in the Marines. For the last three years, I have had the honor of representing southwest Pennsylvania in Congress. You all know that,” he said. “But I’m getting ready to introduce myself to people all over our state because starting today, I am running to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate.”
Lamb enters a crowded field for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who is not seeking reelection. So far, 14 Democrats have declared they’re running in the 2022 primary, including Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and Montgomery County Commissioner Valerie Arkoosh.
“A single Senate seat in the Democratic column at this point would make a huge difference in our ability to get things done,” Representative Lamb said in his announcement video. “I want to be part of that. I think the House campaigns that I’ve had — I ran three in a very short period of time that were very hard, that had then-President Donald Trump personally involved every time — and I think that has prepared me uniquely for this race.”
Lamb is a former federal prosecutor and Marine Corps officer who ascended to Congress, winning the support of Donald Trump voters. Lamb beat Trump-backed candidates in two elections in 2018 (the first being a March special election to fill a vacated seat, followed by the general election in November).
