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Lamb Draws GOP Challenger

Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Allegheny) faced two GOP opponents in 2018. As summer 2019 winds down, the first GOP challenger has emerged in the race for the 17th District for 2020.

Scott Timko, a former Air Force pilot and small business owner, announced a bid for the congressional district in the Pittsburgh suburbs. 

In a release from the campaign announcing his intentions for the seat, Timko dubs Lamb as a “Born again Liberal” who doesn’t have the priorities of western Pennsylvania in mind while serving in Congress. 

“I know what it means to sign both the front and the back of a paycheck,” Timko said. “Conor Lamb has already established himself as being in the pocket of out of town special interests that kill local jobs and look down on our way of life. He talked a good game in his last campaign but has stuffed his pockets with campaign donations from special interest PACS and every leftist group and politician that he can.” 

Lamb has boasted about not accepting “corporate PAC money,” which Politifact deemed as “mostly true” in March 2018, while his campaign accepted donations from various PACs belonging to unions, veterans groups, and a “host of Democratic leadership groups.” In the current election cycle, Lamb’s campaign has raised close to $530,000 with $145,500 of those contributions coming from PACs, although the contributions still come from union PACs and other Democratic leaders.

The Lamb campaign did not respond to requests for comment. 

Timko continued to slam Lamb in his campaign release by saying his “signature legislation” is “a bill to destroy women’s athletics by allowing male “transgender” athletes,” instead of focusing on issues that he believes are more important to the community. His campaign release added that Lamb should instead focus on making the state more “job friendly” by addressing infrastructure, improving healthcare for seniors and veterans, and fixing a “broken immigration system” that he says “perpetuates crime, drugs, and human trafficking.” 

“His priorities are all wrong for western Pennsylvania working families who want solutions from Washington,” Timko said in the release. “The people of western Pennsylvania deserve a lion in Congress to fight for them, not a Lamb.”

The release from his campaign does not mention President Donald Trump, but he has shown support for him on the issues page of his campaign website and through social media. On August 20, Timko quote tweeted a video of Jesse Watters on Fox News lauding Trump for bringing “peace and prosperity” to the country, while praising Trump for being on offense against criticism from the Democratic Party. 

On his campaign website, he lays out his position on a wide variety of issues that include reducing taxes and regulations, “fully” supporting Trump’s “tough stand” on trade policies, supporting immigration reform that includes “barriers to entry and deportation of criminals and those who have disobeyed our immigration laws,” supporting the 2nd Amendment, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Athletics and Their Bathrooms” and more. 

Lamb is currently in his first full term in Congress representing Western PA. His first race captured national attention when he upset GOP state Rep. Rick Saccone in the special election in the Trump friendly old 18th District. His opponent for the newly drawn 17th District, Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-Allegheny), was a well funded candidate, who raised over $3M during his re-election bid, but still won by 13 points in boundaries that narrowly supported Trump in 2016

Lamb is one of three Democrats being targeted by the NRCC for 2020 in Pennsylvania. 

Lamb is currently the only Democrat in the race, while Timko is the lone Republican seeking the seat, according to FEC filings.

16 Responses

  1. I would love it if people either party was willing to put America first. So far that has been code for protecting self interest and not caring who loses as long as I win. Pretty small America they all live in.

  2. Connor Lamb certainly has a moderate voting record. His lifetime rating, according to the American Conservative Union, is 9.52. Speaker Pelosi’s lifetime rating is 2.61 Source: acuratings.conservative.org

  3. “The Lamb campaign did not respond to requests for comment.”

    Why not, Connor Lamb? Why are you so wishy washy that you still can not say whether you are pro or anti choice? Same reason you did not respond for comment.

    You did great work in turning a red district blue. Bravo. But you are no friend to the left…well, sometimes you kinda are…well sorta…well its complicated.

    Take a side. Or some triple chined “military pilot” (yeah, right) will walk all over you. Just a little friendly advise.

    1. B.S. You don’t live in the 17th, or even close to it. This district favors moderates, not some socialist agenda whose litmus test very few D’s could pass. And don’t give me some more b.s. about the energized left. It’s either Lamb or a Trump bot. Pretty easy choice. Unless you’re a kook. ?????

  4. Conor Lamb is exactly the type of congressman we need in Washington. He’s strong on issues that matter most, is not overly partisan and willing to work across the aisle and with all constituencies to solve problems. Glad he’s my congressman.

    1. He is strong on issues that matter most to the liberal Democratic caucus. He’s nothing more than a rubber stamp for Pelosi’s agenda. Look at his voting record. That may work for you, but don’t try to sell us that he’s some sort of moderate independant. A vote for Lamb is a vote for Pelosi, plain and simple.

  5. Lamb is just too strong in that district. No amount of cheesy quips will beat him. He’a also pretty moderate despite Timko’s lame claims.

  6. As a resident of Cranberry Twp, Timko is isolated in the 17th District as he has no recent connection to Beaver or Allegheny County, which make up the substance of the district. He left North Hills in high school.

  7. Hopefully voters are finally getting wise to the same old “conservative small business owner” narrative. All these “small business owners” are about is driving the corporate welfare train. Build us roads, give us infrastructure, install high speed internet for us THEN give us 10 years of no taxes – THEN ONCE THE 10 YEARS OF NO TAXES EXPIRES WE’LL MOVE TO ANOTHER STATE. They don’t want hard working individuals to have anything, but they want to promote business tax breaks and lower wages for the ones doing the hard work.

  8. Anybody who touts Watters World bullshit in their campaign opening must be a despicable human being.

  9. Did Timko have to leave the Air Force as a pilot because he could no longer fit in the cockpit?

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