Why Conor Lamb is barnstorming across Pennsylvania
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Conor Lamb, though no longer a member of Congress, is back to firing up Democrats across Pa. Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb left office in 2022, but that hasn't stopped him from politicking across the state this year as part of what he considers his duty under the second Trump administration.
Why it matters: Democratic voters are hungry to push back against President Trump and have grown frustrated with what they feel is a tepid response of some elected Democratic leaders.
Driving the news: Lamb will hold a town hall with former U.S. commissioner of the Social Security Administration Martin O'Malley on Monday in Greensburg.
Context: It's one of several town halls that Lamb has attended since April. He told Axios that he started receiving invitations from Democratic grassroots groups last month and felt compelled to attend due to a lack of public town halls from state Republicans and Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman.
- Fetterman has missed 31 floor votes in the Senate this year, according to GovTrack.us. In the last congressional session between 2023 and 2024, he had the fourth worst missed-vote record among senators.
- The frequent absences have led to consternation from some former staffers and Democratic activists.
Flashback: Lamb was thrust into the national spotlight in 2018 after flipping a deep red Congressional district in Southwestern Pennsylvania during Trump's first term. He ran for Senate in 2022, losing to Fetterman in the Democratic primary. He is now working as a lawyer at a personal injury firm.
What they're saying: "There is a lot of frustration with Fetterman and Republican members of Congress who won't run town halls," said Lamb, who has visited events in 10 Pennsylvania counties since April.
- He said that Fetterman's and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick's avoiding in-person town halls in the state is "disgraceful."
- "The second Trump presidency is far worse than the first. It felt like we were on a path where people were afraid to dissent. In politics, you have to mount open physical resistance to add political pressure," said Lamb.
Case in point: The senators canceled a joint ticketed event in Pittsburgh in late March that was meant to promote mentorship and McCormick's new book. An April protest held in Schenley Plaza followed the senators' lack of town halls.
- McCormick, who took office in January, has held telephone town halls but nothing yet in person in Pennsylvania.
The other side: McCormick spokesperson Meghan Rodgers pushed back against Lamb's characterization that the senator is absent, noting his unscripted virtual town halls with public questions, and that he hosts regular constituent coffee meetings in the U.S. Capitol.
- "Since he was sworn in in January, Sen. McCormick has been constantly engaged with Pennsylvanians at home [and] while in the Capitol," said Rodgers.
Fetterman didn't respond to requests for comment.
Lamb, who said he isn't running for elected office, added that he hopes pressure from local grassroots activists helps Fetterman return to the liberal advocacy that the senator was known for earlier in his career.
The bottom line: Michelle McFall, chair of the Westmoreland County Democrats, invited Lamb because she was seeing a lot of energy among her committee members, even in a county that voted for Trump by a 28-point margin. She expects more than 200 people for the town hall on Monday.
- "I thought people might be ready to lay down and die out of exhaustion, but that is not the case. I have seen the opposite," she said. "In Westmoreland County in April, we got around 800 people to the courthouse (to protest Trump). That is a massive number for us."