Is Conor Lamb Back?

It's Thursday, September 11th. I'm Megan Harris, and here's what Pittsburgh's talking about. I am with the host of our sister show, Citicast Feliz Trinay-Norri. Thank you so much for tag teaming this one. Of course. And Connor Lamb, welcome to CityCast Pittsburgh. Thanks for having me. Connor, you lost your election to John Fetterman in 2022. A lot of Pennsylvanians seem to have buyers remorse. A lot of people have come out this year apologizing for not voting for you. Even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posting that there should be an official Connor Lamb apology form. Like, that's got to be wild. That was nice of her. And actually, if you think about it in politics these days, people very rarely ever admit that they were wrong about something. That's kind of the culture that I think Trump has brought, is he never backs down or says he's wrong about everything. And a lot of people copy that. So it has been kind of stunning to see people say that in this case. What's funny for me is... Like, I think it's my fault that I lost, not theirs. Like, in my view, the job of the candidate and the politicianist is to persuade people and convince them to go in that direction. So I would not be one blaming all these people for my loss. I think we kind of have the shoe on the wrong foot in some sense. But I appreciate what it is that these people are trying to say. Okay, so why are these town halls? Why are you going around talking to folks, talking to Pennsylvanians, and what are you hearing from them? And is it about John Fetterman, like, stepping in because he hasn't held one himself? To me, the importance of a town hall, it doesn't really have anything to do with John Fetterman, although I think that he helps bring into focus why they're important. I think that in the Trump era, especially, people's basic... understanding about democracy and their assumptions that they grow up with are changing. And we're at risk of people losing sight of how this democratic system is supposed to work. So no matter who you are, if you want to run for Congress or for the U.S. Senate, You should have to go back and explain yourself to the people that elected you. I don't care what party you're in. I don't care how wealthy and famous you are. We don't care how big your state is. Obviously, you're never going to talk to every single person, but you should be engaged in the regular act of answering people's questions because they're your boss. Like, it's them that chose you, not the other way around. And so, you know, I think. that the more that that expectation dissolves because Trump so obviously doesn't represent anything like that and many people in his party don't. They never hold town halls.

You know, if people let go of that because it just seems like it's not the way anymore, I think we'll have really lost something in this country. And so for me, participating in these town halls, which I was invited to mostly in congressional districts where the representative wasn't holding one, was just a way of trying to keep that expectation alive. You know, I would like to, my kids come to some of them. They talk about town halls. I would like to teach them that that's what you do if you run for offices. You answer people's questions at a town hall. But why you, though? I mean, I just, it's a totally different thing, I think, in this moment to have the person who ran and I take you at your word that you did so earnestly. You really wanted to win. You wanted to be a U.S. Senator. And you didn't. And now you're stepping up and taking on this mantle of the person who did. Well, I held a lot of town halls when I was an actual member of Congress. And for anyone that followed politics in that 2018, 2019. timeframe when a lot of us, a lot of new younger people came to the house. Holding town halls was a huge part of our overall platform on the Democratic side that year, and we all did it. And so I think people thought of me as being associated with town halls. And then, you know, for these groups are all around the state that live in Republican congressional districts, they wanted to do this and didn't have anyone else that they could ask. And so I think I started. I showed up at one in Center County in like March. And once that happened, I just started getting invited to them everywhere. And my, you know, like a lot of people I was waking up in Trump too and going, what can I do to, you know, try to have some influence or be part of something? And I think this is what I can uniquely do. You know, not everybody gets invited to these things, but I was and I felt like I should say yes. Well, speaking of Washington, let's talk about what's been happening down there and how it's impacting us here in PA. In the coming weeks, Local Democrats, they're going to be meeting together to discuss the budget, the national budget, approve a new Trump budget or shut down the government. The budget expires September 30th. Connor, how would you advise Democrats to approach this? I think that from the beginning, from earlier in the year, Senate Democrats in particular, but really all the Washington Democrats should have been preparing the public for the fact that when the budget decision comes up. the Democrats are going to insist on one thing, on a small list of things, whatever the case, and that that's going to be their demand and that they're going to demand to be negotiated with because they represent an enormous part of the country. And that's the way the constitutional system works. You know, you can't get one of these budgets through the Senate without some cooperation from the other side if you don't have 60 votes. And that's the difference here is that it's not a simple 50-50. It's that Democrats have to sign on to this, at least seven of them. Correct. And I don't know what the one thing or two things would be. I said earlier in the year, I thought it should have been that Social Security was sacrosanct and could not be touched by anyone from Doge. That has kind of receded from importance, at least as far as I can tell, since Doge has slowed down, although I don't know that because it's very secretive. But you can imagine, you know, the things that might be maybe restoring the Obamacare premium subsidies, which that sounds like a lot of jargon. But, you know. probably 500,000 people's health insurance in Pennsylvania is about to get a lot more expensive, like order of magnitude more expensive. So you pick an issue like that and say, look, that's the price of getting the budget you want. You know, this administration's violating the law all the time with respect to how the government is funded and what they're doing with different people in the government. And I just think they need to get on the side of the public on an issue and say, we're going to fight for you on this. Donald Trump doesn't get to do everything you wants. That's not how the Constitution works.

But it's been kind of quiet. And I think that's disappointing. Should Democrats take a stand in this moment and let the government shut down? Or should they capitulate in some way, find a compromise? Well, first of all, I would just leave the shutdown out of the conversation. Like, the question that I think people want to know out there is, do Democrats stand for anything? Like, what are they willing to fight for? For months, we should have been educating the public on, like, hey, there's going to come a time at the end of September where... Donald Trump, a king in his own mind, has to come back to Congress and ask us for the money he wants to continue operating. And here's what we're going to demand. We're going to demand that he not raised the price of your health care. Pure and simple, tell them to put that money back into the budget and we'll vote for it. We won't ask any other questions. You know, that's easy to understand. And it makes you feel like on a question of basic affordability, people are on your side. But they're not doing that, I think, because they are afraid of this specter of a shutdown. And so. I wish they were just picking one issue like that and really fighting for people on. And then if it shuts down, it's Trump's fault. I mean, it's not unreasonable to ask someone that you're negotiating with to grant you one thing if you're granting them a thousand things, right? I totally hear you that, I mean, I also wish that they had made those demands early on, but like what should they do now? Like, is it too late for that approach or do you just start where you start? It's definitely not too late for Chuck Schumer to start drawing a hard line, again, on behalf of the people that we all represent who aren't going to be able to afford their health care next year. And most people, frankly, have no idea that this deadline's even coming up. So you could start today and make an issue out of it. But we're still not quite hearing that, you know, so I hope that there's some kind of a plan. Are you hearing it among the friends that you text? Like, are they talking about it, even if Chuck Schumer's not yet? Most of my folks are in the House where they're going to get rolled over no matter what because of the way the House works. It's just pure majority rule and the Republicans have the majority. So this kind of demand really has to come from Chuck Schumer and the senators. And, you know, I'm not in as much of a texting relationship there. I'm not hearing a lot of hope, though. No. Well, yeah. I mean, I just think he rolled over last time Chuck Schumer and until he. demonstrate some sort of resolve that he intends to do it differently this time we have to kind of assume it might be the same approach but you know like I said there's plenty of time left on the clock who knows what it'll do So let's go back to that, like, approach. And you mentioned, like, just having our elected officials talk to people. So over here in Philly, we've got two different approaches to Trump. Our district attorney, Larry Krasner, has been very aggressive, threatening to go after Trump if he abuses his powers, especially when we talk about immigration enforcement and federal law enforcement. But then our mayor, Mikie Sherrill Parker, has been overly quiet. almost like she doesn't want to poke the bear. What approach would you take, Connor?

I think first and foremost, it would depend on the job that I had. So, you know, all these jobs in politics are a little different as far as what your actual powers are and what the public expects of you. And so the job that I have actually held is being a representative in Washington. And so I tend to speak up more on those topics. And I think that is important. You know, if you spend a lot of time talking about things. that are not actually within your control. Like if you're a mayor and you're just constantly opining about things that Trump does, you know, your citizens might say, yeah, but like what about the schools and the trash and whatever the case? So I think you do have to really- See an experience like every day. You have to keep faith with the reason that the people chose you. Again, it all comes back to this idea that like the people chose you and they chose you to do a job, not just to give speeches. And so- when you're a representative or a senator, your job really actually is to give speeches, like on the House floor or the Senate floor and then cast votes based on that. And town halls. Yes, and do town halls. I mean, do you have advice for local officials? I know it's not a one-to-one, right? And you've never held a position in local governance. But, like, I think a lot of city leaderships all over the country are kind of wondering, like, How much do we stick our neck out? Like, what do we say? You know, Trinay gave the Philly examples here in Pittsburgh. Like, we never got formally designated as a sanctuary anything, not the county, not the city. We made a federal list at one point that disappeared. But our local leaders, on the other hand, have been pretty clear that we want immigrants here in Pittsburgh. We won't cooperate with ICE. But like... It wears the middle ground on standing up for your populace, but also like drawing a hard line for what increasingly feels like an authoritarian regime. Yeah. I mean, I think that. Everyone with a public platform, especially if you're a Democrat, needs to reckon with the fact that a lot of the most powerful people in our country have basically laid down for Trump. You know, people that run big corporations or universities, law firms, even entertainment studios. I mean, a lot of other sources of strength in our country have just given way. And I think that... imposes a pretty important responsibility on the rest of us who are able to speak up to do so. So I would certainly tell any local elected official that people are willing to listen to that you should speak up in a way that's natural to you. And so it might be look at what Governor Josh Shapiro does. I wouldn't say he's known as like the most anti-Trump politician out there. But one thing he does is really clearly and calmly and succinctly he will summarize. the ways that Trump policies are hurting Pennsylvania in a lot of different and interesting and very specific ways. And I think that's powerful because it might cut through some of the emotional resistance that voters in the middle have to everything being anti-Trump, but it actually informs them of something important. And on the local level, there's probably a lot that mayors can do that's very similar. And they might even be able to be a little bit more partisan because they govern big cities that are mostly opposed to Trump anyway.

Today's episode is sponsored by YWCA Greater Pittsburgh. They're currently accepting nominations for the 26 Equity Awards, which honor community members who support their vision of a world where everyone has equitable access to professional and personal opportunities free from injustice. There are five award categories. Ally, Bridge Builder, Creative Arts, and Innovation, Emerging Leader, and Heroin. Nominations are going to be accepted through Friday, July 24th. YWCA Greater Pittsburgh also encourages self-nominations and especially wants to recognize women of color. So if you or someone you know has been stepping up for your community, this is the perfect opportunity to honor that work. And honorees will be recognized at the Equity Awards Luncheon on Thursday, November 19th, at the Weston Pittsburgh. Learn more about the awards categories and submit your nomination today at YWCAPGH.org. Are you as frustrated with lawmakers as the rest of us? Because if I'm hearing you right, it just feels so bleak that Democrats or anyone that doesn't believe in the cult of Trump can't be honest about that anymore. Like can't be critical. And that now that's up to people like you, a former elected official to say the blunt thing because the people actually in office right now don't feel safe or don't feel like they can. Like is that what I'm reading here? Well, I would say I'm pretty frustrated by the congressional leadership for sure, Chuck Schumer in particular. And so, and that's not a unique view of mine. I mean, like, you asked what people are saying when I go out to these town halls and events. I mean, Democrats are disgusted with them. And, you know, there's good reasons for that. I would say, actually, that I'm encouraged by what a lot of... Democratic leaders are doing on the local and state level all around the country, especially younger ones. Because I think younger ones just have a little bit more of an awareness of the way that you have to be bolder and clearer to break through in a social media environment. And I think we just maybe weren't raised quite as much on... like fear of the republicans i mean i just think that there's a lot of people that are afraid of uh the way the republicans do messaging and that sort of thing and and just you know they're overly charitable to trump at this point trump has made no secret about what he's trying to do to this country so i think we have to be clear about it ourselves do you think they're afraid of republicans or they're afraid of what republicans are doing because those are two different things Yeah, I don't necessarily think they're like afraid of them in a physical way. I think what they are, what they may be is overly cautious about the price of criticizing Trump in really blunt terms. So like, and take this, I'm someone that ran for office in a district that Trump won by 19 points. And I never said Trump, Trump's name. Yeah, I mean, you faced, you faced Rick Sacon in an incredibly tight election. I actually got to help call that with the AP that year. Oh, cool. That was a wild experience. Like, it was really like on the line for a long time, your first time in office. And I get, so based on that, like, I get why some Democrats feel that way, because you don't get a lot of room among more conservative voters.

to sound partisan, like as far as partisan in favor of the Democrats. But I do think you get a lot of room to be blunt and clear about the situation of these people's lives and the way that it could be different. And I think that's a distinction that we kind of miss, where Democratic politicians sometimes end up not sounding very passionate or clear about the consequences of what Trump is doing. I'm curious what you think, just like the broader implications. Like if we step out, step back and zoom out, like of Congress not acting as a check to the president's powers. Like, how is that hitting you in this moment? I mean, it's, you know, the idea of like a bill of rights and a government in which, you know, you have these separate institutions sharing power, the presidency, the Congress. Supreme Court, it all seems kind of lofty, but really what it is all about at the end of the day is the idea that each of us has some equal measure of dignity and we're supposed to be respected and listen to. And so if we're going to become a society where the president is allowed to do whatever they want, even though they only won the election by a few hundred thousand votes in a

starts to trample on the idea of equal human dignity. He doesn't have to listen to anybody, including the voters, including the senators, including the representatives. He can grab people off the street and send them to a gulag in El Salvador. I mean, how the heck is that possible in America? It's possible if we become a culture in which we just hand all the power to one person and say, go ahead and do what you want. So the purpose of the Senate in particular was supposed to be a place that... that shines a light on any behavior or attitudes like that and kind of shows it to the public and says, well, that's not what we're about. And then actually takes action to stop it. You can't rely on the courts for everything. They're too slow. The Senate can react to things like this in real time and use its platform to actually not even do anything radical, but just insist that we follow the Constitution. How do our officials, our elected officials, work together to push back against what we are seeing in D.C.? If by work together, you mean... work across party lines, it is something that is extremely difficult on any issue of importance because Trump has made it that way. And it pains me to say that. Again, if you're familiar with the way that I ran for Congress in 2018, I couldn't talk enough about how much I wanted to work with the Republicans to get things done. And I meant it. And I went down to D.C. trying to do it and looking for allies to do it and trying to get bills forward and everything. And in the campaign, John Fetterman used that against you quite a lot. Correct. Quite a lot. You wanted to work with Republicans. And that was a dirty thing to say. Yeah. But times have changed. So like. But Trump makes it impossible is my point. So, you know, remember, a huge bipartisan victory if you think about it is the fact that 10 Republicans in the House voted to. impeached Trump the second time for January 6th, 10 of them, because it was so obvious what he did was wrong and unconstitutional. Of those 10, only two returned to Congress, too, because he organized primaries against the other eight and beat them. And he's done that. I mean, you've seen him do it to all these people who ever dare to oppose him in any way. And the message that sends Republicans is don't work with Democrats. Don't do anything except what Trump tells you to do. And so really, when you talk about people working together to push back on what's happening, It's Democrats have to work with each other. And then we have to expand the playing field here. We have to expand our tent. We have to appeal to centrists and former Republicans. And we have to appeal to the people that just voted for Zohran Mamdani in New York and came out to vote because he excited them so much. It's a really hard thing to do. Like those are a lot of people that disagree on stuff. But if we want to be successful and kind of save this country for small D democracy, that's what we have to do. Okay, so what is the plan? What is the plan for 2026? Yeah, I mean, so the plan for 2026 in Pennsylvania.

You have to actually, for once, look at the landscape in Pennsylvania and say, Democrats kind of have their act together. So we have four U.S. House districts in Pennsylvania that could definitely flip, you know, and in a wave year, maybe more. But we got four that we have like a really legitimate shot at. And in all four of those, in three of them, you pretty much have a single Democrat everyone knows is going to be the candidate. And then in the fourth, it's a more competitive primary, but there's. one that most prominent people have thrown their support behind. So there's at least some effort to kind of like organize the best possible candidates in the places that we need them the most. And there's a similar thing happening in the state house elections as well. So I just think there's been good leadership from Governor Josh Shapiro on down to say 2026 is really important, let's put our best foot forward and not make this any harder on ourselves. It has to be. And just look at what. Trump's economy is already doing at this point in September of 2025 people are angry and they're uncertain about it and by this point next year I just think our ability to make typical opposition arguments about how it didn't have to be this way is going to be really strong, unfortunately, because I wish that unemployment wasn't going up, but it is. A lot of people have lost their jobs. I think the last count I saw was 2,600 under Trump, like federal workers and other folks. And we expect more with parks and wilderness spaces, things like that, where they just, they can't staff if the government shuts down. That's government stuff, yeah, too. But if you look at the general employment numbers, you know, we're losing a lot more jobs than that under this tariff policy. So it all kind of comes together to give people a sense of fragility. I saw something this morning where they were doing a big survey, just asking people, if you lost your job, how confident are you that you'd get another one in the next three months? And that is at the lowest level that it's been at in 25 years, especially for people with high school degrees. So, like, it already has set in. that people are very pessimistic about the current situation. And that is all a product of the things that Trump has done. But are they pessimistic enough to go vote for something else? Right. I think, well, first of all, it's our job to take that feeling and marshal it into a vote. I would go back to what I was saying a few minutes ago is that we have some pretty compelling candidates who I think are going to cut through the noise and make those arguments to people. But that's the work that we need to do. If there's a danger here. It's when people on the Democratic side adopt what they call a thermostatic theory, which is that just because Trump is doing bad, then we're going to do well. It's like if you picture like a seesaw at a children's playground, well, it doesn't work like that. It's possible for both ends of the seesaw to stay low because people hate politicians of all stripes increasingly. So our job is really to get out there and work this thing on the ground, on social media and everywhere that you could possibly work it so that. people are able to connect like that general feeling of pessimism that they have with not just punishing Trump, but like sending someone to do the job they wish was being done. Are you doing that work right now? Are you planning to run for anything? I don't have a plan to run for anything right now. I'm not a candidate in 2025 or 26, but I am. No, but that senatorship is going to be open again for 2028.

That may be true. Yeah. I hate to sound too dark for you, but if we don't do our job in 2026, you know, we're going to have real challenges when it comes to the election in 2028. Actually, that's true with respect to the judge races this fall, too. So I'm involved in a lot of different ways of... trying to improve our campaign and encourage people to vote this year and next year because I just think we're going to be living with the consequences of those elections for a very long time. And a lot of other change could happen between now and then, too. Like we have a governor's race in 2026. And that's actually another good reason to be hopeful for the Democrats, I think, like in those House races, is Governor Josh Shapiro is very popular. I think he's going to run well. I think a lot of people are going to want to support him. And typically... you know, if they're picking a Democrat at the top of their ballot, it's going to increase the likelihood that they may pick the Democrats for the House races as well. One of the things that I feel like we try to do here at CityCast is also just like tell people how to get involved. Like if this is a, if there's a thing they're frustrated about how to step in, I mean, you're talking about like trying to be more involved in civics and, you know, even taking on that mantle yourself to try to teach some of these like diplomatic principles. How would you advise someone listening to this and just like frustrated by the whole like how did they get involved? What do you think people need right now? Well, I think the most important thing you can do if you're willing to is pick a campaign of some kind and go door knocking. Because when you have to knock on people's doors. one of the things that you then have to do is listen to them if they answer their door and you sort of say to them, oh, are you thinking about voting in the judicial race or whatever? And you pretty quickly get to see that like it's all way more textured and nuanced and individual out there than it's ever portrayed through the media, which can make you actually hopeful. It's like, oh, there are people out here that actually listen. Like, you know, they, if we make a good enough argument, they're going to accept it. And I think that's really good and it's just good for our culture to have people talking to people face to face. So that would be my number one thing. There's obviously other things you can do. But if you can do that, it helps. Connor, thank you so much. Thank you. Happy to be here.

That is all for today here on CityCast Pittsburgh. By the way, all those judges that Connor just talked about the ones up for election this November, I would recommend starting to familiarize yourself now. We will work on that on R&2, talking about it here. But for now, I'm going to point you to Spotlight PA and their 101 series on why judges matter and what's at stake. Those links will be in our show notes. As always, you can support us by becoming a citycast Pittsburgh neighbor. All the details are at membership.citycass.fm. We will be back tomorrow morning with more news from around the city. We'll talk to you soon. Are you lawyering full-time? What are your days like now? Yes, I am a full-time plaintiff's lawyer for a Philadelphia firm called Klein Inspector. I'm the first person that they hired here in Pittsburgh. So now we have a small client inspector Pittsburgh office, but I spend a lot of time in Philly as well at our larger office. I also teach at Duquesne Law School where I do seminars about democracy. And I have two young children with my wife Haley and we're having a third child. kind of any week now. Oh my gosh. Congratulations. Congratulations. I can't believe you've been doing town halls in the midst of also like two children, a full-time job, multiple jobs and also another one way. Oh my gosh. Yeah. It's a passion. It gets me out of the house and I think my wife actually enjoys that. So.