Health care was the top issue for Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district voters, who seemingly elected Democrat Conor Lamb over Republican Rick Saccone in a dramatically close special election on Tuesday, Public Policy Polling found. Fifty-two percent of voters said health care was a top issue in their decision and "among voters who said health care was the most important issue for them, Lamb beat Rick Saccone 64-36, and among a broader group of voters who said it was either the most important or a very important issue, Lamb beat Saccone 62-38," PPP writes.
The heavily Republican PA-18, which President Trump won by 20 points in 2016, additionally disapproved of the GOP's efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act by a margin of 14 points, 53 percent to 39 percent. Almost half of voters, 48 percent, believe "Republicans are now trying to undermine and sabotage [the Affordable Care Act] since they failed to repeal it," and over half, 59 percent, believe the ACA should be kept in place following certain fixes. Just 38 percent believe a full repeal is the best decision.
The Pennsylvania race is being viewed as a bellwether for the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats are hoping to flip the House. Topher Spiro, the vice president for health policy at the liberal-leaning American Progress, reacted to PPP's poll by tweeting: "BOOM. This is it. Any vulnerable Republican who voted to repeal health care is toast."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The PPP poll reached 567 PA-18 voters on election day, March 13. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.1 percent. Read the full results here.
-
Who owns Gaza? Israel's occupation plansThe Explainer Egypt, Israel and Britain have ruled the beleaguered territory
-
Savages: a tragi-comedy set in a 'quirky handcrafted world'The Week Recommends This new animated film by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Claude Barras is undeniably political, but it has a hopeful message
-
Why 'faceless bots' are interviewing job huntersIn The Spotlight Artificial intelligence is taking over a crucial part of recruitment
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring pushSpeed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additionsSpeed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein filesSpeed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oilSpeed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymanderSpeed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
-
Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting voteSpeed Read More than 51 legislators fled the state in protest of the GOP's plan to redraw congressional districts
-
Trump criticized for firing BLS chief after jobs reportSpeed Read Bureau of Labor Statistics chief Erika McEntarfer oversaw a July jobs report that the president claims was rigged
-
Trump revives K-12 Presidential Fitness TestSpeed Read The Obama administration phased the test out in 2012, replacing it with a program focused on overall health rather than standardized benchmarks
