Rothfus Labeled 'Dead Man Walking' In House Race Against Lamb

PITTSBURGH, PA - The U.S. House’s campaign arm has waved the white flag in southwestern Pennsylvania, pulling the plug on its remaining ad buys for Republican Rep. Keith Rothfus. The move means the GOP congressional campaign committee essentially is ceding the race to Democratic U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb.

According to The Hill, a newspaper covering Washington, D.C. politics and government, Rothfus “largely been seen as a dead man walking since redistricting left him with a Democratic-leaning district and a difficult opponent in Lamb.”

Instead of funneling money into what Republicans consider now consider a lost cause, the party will redirect the money to more competitive races in an attempt to maintain the party’s congressional majority. Democrats need 23 seats to regain control of the House.

Because of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's mandated redistricting of state congressional districts, Rothfus and Lamb are squaring off in the newly configured 17th District. Rothus represented the old 12th District since 2013, while Lamb won a special election in March to capture the 18th District seat.

The new district covers all of Beaver County, a portion of Butler County including Cranberry, and many suburban Allegheny County communities, including Ross, McCandless, Penn Hills, Oakmont, Moon, Robinson and Sewickley.

Rothfus photo via U.S. House of Representatives.

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