Why Conor Lamb matters to New Jersey

The results of the special congressional election in western Pennsylvania still isn’t decided, with Democrat Conor Lamb clinging to a razor-thin margin of 579, with 99% of the vote in.  The significance to New Jerseyans is that in 2016, a Republican congressman ran unopposed for re-election in PA-18 and President Trump carried the district by 20 points.

If you’ve seen one congressional district, you’ve seen one congressional district — and western Pennsylvania has little in common with New Jersey.  Still, with Trump at an upside-down 32%-63% approval rating in New Jersey, it’s fair to compare the +20 district with the six New Jersey races that are potentially competitive:

NJ-02 (Open): Frank LoBiondo +20; Donald Trump +4
NJ-03: Tom MacArthur +20; Donald Trump +2
NJ-04: Chris Smith +30; Donald Trump +14
NJ-05: Josh Gottheimer +4; Donald Trump +1
NJ-07: Leonard Lance +11, Hillary Clinton +1
NJ-11 (Open): Rodney Frelinghuysen +19; Donald Trump +1