Trump races to head off another special election debacle
Trump will travel to southwestern Pennsylvania next week in an effort to avoid a second electoral embarrassment in two months.
By ALEX ISENSTADT
01/11/2018 06:37 PM EST
The White House is scrambling to avoid another special election disaster, this time in a Pennsylvania congressional district in the heart of Trump country.
After a humiliating loss in the Alabama Senate race last month, the administration is drawing up ambitious plans that will kick off next Thursday when Trump travels to the conservative district to appear with Republican candidate Rick Saccone. Vice President Mike Pence and an assortment of Cabinet officials are also expected to make trips; Pence may go twice ahead of the March 13 special election, two administration officials said.
The White House has taken an especially keen interest in the race: Members of Trump's political affairs office met with Saccone this week. And during a Tuesday conference call between the Republican national party committees and the Saccone campaign, White House political director Bill Stepien expressed displeasure with the progress the candidate was making on fundraising. Stepien said Saccone wasn’t raising enough money and asked for an update on the campaign’s progress in the days to come.
Trump’s visit to the district next week will take him to a manufacturing plant outside Pittsburgh. The president plans to use the ostensibly official trip to promote the recently passed tax reform plan.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/11/trump-special-election-pennsylvania-pittsburgh-336502?lo=ap_a1
