Mar 15, 2018 2 min read

Every vote counts … again.

If it sounds like we’re a broken record, well, we are.

For the second time in less than five months, a high-profile race in our area came down to the wire, with the winning candidate scraping by with a razor-thin margin.

In November, it was Gene Rush defeating incumbent Greene County Coroner Greg Rohanna by just four votes.

On Tuesday, Americans watched as the biggest race in the country – Democrat Conor Lamb vs. Republican Rick Saccone – come down to 627 votes in the 18th Congressional District special election. That’s about a quarter-percent of the more than 228,000 ballots cast.

It’s a district that President Trump carried by about 20 points in 2016 and one that former congressman Tim Murphy won by 28 points in 2012. That’s quite a pendulum swing, but Tuesday’s results also show how every person’s vote can make a difference.

A whopping 47.9 percent turnout in Allegheny County helped propel Lamb to the unofficial victory, allowing him to beat back Saccone’s solid support in Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

With another primary looming two months from now, hopefully this race demonstrates why people should show up at the polls.

With the growing cynicism in politics nowadays, Tuesday’s special election demonstrates the power of democracy.