Conor Lamb upholds promise not to vote Nancy Pelosi as speaker

Democratic Congressman Conor Lamb kept a campaign promise Thursday by not voting for Nancy Pelosi for speaker of the House.

Even without Lamb’s vote, Pelosi secured enough support to reclaim the speaker gavel.

Lamb, who won his first full term in Congress in November by beating Keith Rothfus in the new 17th Congressional District, had said throughout his campaigns that he would not vote for the longtime California Democrat.

Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, voted for Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a Massachusetts Democrat who campaigned in Western Pennsylvania for Lamb when he was running in a special election in early 2018 to replace Rep. Tim Murphy. Lamb won that seat, in the then-18th Congressional District, and went on to win the race for the new 17th district later that year.

The 17th district includes Beaver County, part of Cranberry in Butler County and about half of Allegheny County, including suburbs north, west and south of Pittsburgh.

Lamb was among only a handful of Democrats who did not vote for Pelosi. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, voted for Pelosi.

Republican congressmen from Western Pennsylvania including Guy Reschenthaler, Mike Kelly, John Joyce and Glenn Thompson voted for Rep. Kevin McCarthy.

In all, 15 Democrats didn’t support Pelosi. Of those, 10 were incoming members. Twelve backed other Democrats and three voted “present.”

Aaron Aupperlee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Aaron at 412-336-8448, aaupperlee@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tinynotebook.