Moderator

Congressman Connor Lamb

Lamb first ran for the U.S. House in a special election in 2018, then twice won re-election to full two-year terms representing the 17th District that covered Beaver County and parts of Allegheny and Butler counties.

In Congress, Lamb served on the House committees on Science, Space and Technology; Veterans Affairs; and Transportation and Infrastructure. In 2022, he decided not to seek another term and instead ran for the U.S. Senate, but finished second in the Democratic primary to John Fetterman, the eventual winner.

Before his time in Congress, Lamb worked as a prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, a position that followed his clerkship with a federal judge in New York.

The office won a number of highly publicized convictions and was a national leader in the fight against opioid trafficking. Lamb focused on dismantling heroin trafficking organizations and obtained guilty verdicts against several members of the “Uptown” crew and their out-of-state supplier. He also won convictions against firearms traffickers, bank robbers, other violent criminals, and distributors of illegal prescription drugs.

Lamb earned both his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the winner of the James J. Manderino Award for Trial Advocacy. He then went on to complete the Marine Corps’ Officer Candidates School program before being commissioned as a judge advocate, serving from 2009-2017 on active duty and in the reserves, leaving with the rank of major.

As a judge advocate, Lamb prosecuted general courts-martial for rape and sexual assault. He assisted in the high-profile conviction of a Naval Academy instructor who had lied to a Marine Corps board of inquiry during an investigation of sexual misconduct.

For his service Lamb was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with two gold stars, the Sea Service Ribbon, the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Lamb’s family has a long history in politics, including a grandfather, Thomas F. Lamb, who was Democratic majority leader in the Pennsylvania Senate, and an uncle, Michael Lamb, who has been the Pittsburgh city controller since 2008.

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