Congressman Conor Lamb to debate Trump-backed challenger Sean Parnell on Saturday night

U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, faces off against Trump-backed Republican challenger Sean Parnell in an in-person, televised debate airing Saturday night.

Lamb, 36, and Parnell, 39, who recently moved from Cranberry to Ohio Township, have several things in common beyond vying to represent the 17th Congressional District, which includes about half of Allegheny County with suburbs to the south, west and north of Pittsburgh and all of Beaver County.

Both men are under 40 — relatively young for Congress, whose House members are, on average, more than 58 years old. Both have military backgrounds — Lamb as a former Marine and Parnell as a former Army Ranger platoon leader.

Each candidate has pitched himself as moderate eager to represent the region’s constituents instead of toeing party lines. Both support fracking and unions and vow to fight raids on Medicare and Social Security.

And both have been dubbed “rockstar” candidates.

Lamb and Parnell got national air time during the national conventions. Lamb was one of 17 Democrats deemed “rising stars” who delivered a joint keynote address, while Parnell spoke about how his military experience taught him how to lead and work with diverse groups of people. His top priorities include strengthening the military, creating jobs through deregulation and driving down health care costs through increased competition.

“I’m running as a Republican, and I am a conservative, but I am less interested in the Republican answer or the Democratic answer,” Parnell told the Trib shortly before his Republican National Convention speech aired. “I think people really do want in Western Pennsylvania an independent, moderate voice of their region.”

Lamb similarly told the Trib that his constituents are “independent-­minded.” The former federal prosecutor and Marine flipped a historically red region blue by ousting two Trump-backed candidates in back-to-back special and general elections in 2018. His priorities include combating the heroin crisis, investing in jobs and infrastructure and ensuring affordable health care.

Though Trump repeatedly derided him as “Pelosi’s little Lamb,” Lamb was one of 15 Democrats who voted against Pelosi for Speaker of the House. He riled some Republican supporters months later when he voted in favor of impeaching Trump.

Saturday night’s primetime debate hosted by Tribune-­Review news partner WPXI-TV will give the candidates the opportunity to show voters what sets them apart. It airs at 7 p.m. and will be rerun several times on WPXI’s streaming channel.

Moderated by WPXI morning news anchor Katherine Ament, the event will span about 30 minutes.

A coin flip will determine which candidate delivers his two-minute opening remarks first.

Questions will pertain to how candidates plan to improve the lives of Western Pennsylvanians, and likely will touch on pressing issues such as the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, civil unrest over social justice issues, racial tensions and the Supreme Court vacancy created by the Sept. 18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to the debate’s WPXI producers.

The WPXI debate comes four days after Trump spoke to thousands of supporters packed outside a hangar at Pittsburgh International Airport in Moon, the president’s fourth visit to the state this month. During his remarks Tuesday night, Trump called Parnell onto the stage, and Parnell arrived to a standing ovation and spoke briefly before Air Force One arrived. Parnell introduced Vice President Mike Pence during his campaign rally in Beaver County earlier this month.