Murphy v. Saccone: Infamous Pa. Republicans feud before primary
By RACHAEL BADE 05/15/2018 05:04 AM EDT
A disgraced ex-congressman and a Republican candidate despised by party leaders have been fighting a weeks-long, behind-the-scenes battle ahead of Tuesday’s primary for an open House seat in Western Pennsylvania.
Former Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned last October amid allegations that he asked his mistress to get an abortion, has been working quietly to sink Rick Saccone’s bid for Congress. Saccone, who became a national Republican scapegoat after losing to Democrat Conor Lamb in the March special election to replace Murphy, is now running for the GOP nomination in a newly drawn, heavily Republican district that includes much of Murphy’s old turf.
The fight has gotten personal: Murphy has directed hundreds of thousands of dollars from his old campaign account to an outside group supporting Saccone’s GOP primary opponent, state Sen. Guy Reschenthaler. Murphy also sent around a cropped video clip of Saccone that he believed would damage him.
At one point, Murphy accidentally forwarded that link to Saccone while trying to send it to someone else. The inadvertent exchange about opioids triggered a nasty back-and-forth that ended with Murphy calling Saccone “heartless,” while Saccone argued that his comments were taken out of context.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/15/pennsylvania-primary-murphy-saccone-588027
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