Rep. Conor Lamb Declares Victory Over Sean Parnell, Race Still Not Called

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Democratic Congressman Conor Lamb declared victory over Republican challenger Sean Parnell in Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District Wednesday night.

Now, we're hearing from Parnell's campaign, and they are not giving up. They say, with all eyes on Pennsylvania, it's important to count every legal vote, and let the process play out.

The Parnell campaign released this statement on Thursday morning:

"Over the past 24 hours, we have looked closely at the votes already counted, the votes yet to be counted, and widely reported irregularities in those votes. Whether those irregularities end up meaningful or not, it is abundantly clear that this election cannot be decided until every vote is counted and verified as legal.

"Last night, despite previously calling for every vote to be counted, Conor Lamb claimed victory practically the minute he took a slim lead in this race. Unless Lamb has a sixth sense that helps him precisely determine vote totals from outstanding precincts in this razor's edge race, he should exercise the restraint that he was calling for while significantly behind.

"All eyes are on Pennsylvania, and our poll workers have volunteered their time working day and night to count votes. We should absolutely let them continue their work, count every legal vote, and let the process play on until its rightful conclusion.

"Sean, unlike his opponent, is the candidate of law and order. He is absolutely committed to a full and fair accounting of all legal ballots, will fight on behalf of the people to make that happen, and will accept the will of the voters at that time, no matter the outcome. That is what makes our democracy great."

Meanwhile, just in this morning, new numbers show Lamb with a thin lead.

According to the Associated Press, Lamb has 50.3% of the vote compared to Parnell at 49.6%.

Hours before these numbers were released, Lamb was at a news conference at the Steamfitters Union Hall in Beechview, saying he won the race.

"Of course, there are nerves, I'd be lying if I said there weren't. I'm lucky to have a great team and we executed our plan," said Rep. Lamb.

We're told Lamb's campaign believes because the numbers are in his favor, and with a good number in votes coming from mail in ballots, they felt confident to declare victory last night.

"Our campaign, the grassroots, the labor groups that you've seen here, they really focused on mail-in ballot campaign. It was a huge part of our effort, so we had a pretty good sense of what it would show," said Lamb.

For live results of all election races in Pennsylvania, visit KDKA's 2020 General Election results page.