Richard Saccone is an American politician and author who represented the state's 39th district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. A Republican, he was the party's nominee for the 18th congressional district special election, held on March 13, 2018. The race proved to be very close, and was ultimately won by the Democratic candidate Conor Lamb with a margin of less than 0.4%. Saccone conceded the race eight days later. Saccone is critical of welfare spending. He supports using non-General fund money to balance the Pennsylvania state budget, but is not opposed to broad-based tax cuts in order to avoid raising taxes. Saccone's beliefs are strongly influenced by Christian reconstructionist and author David Barton, who also introduced Saccone's 2018 special election run.
Education and career
Saccone received a bachelor's degree in psychology/criminal justice from Weber State College in 1981, a master's degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma in 1984, and a master's degree in national security affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1987. Saccone received a Ph.D. in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002. He was later on the faculty of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He served as a United States Air Force officer, working in the Office of Special Investigation, counter intelligence. After resigning from the Air Force, Saccone was a civilian employee of the U.S. Army during the Iraq War, working in Iraq from 2004-05. While in Iraq, Saccone worked as an interrogation consultant at Abu Ghraib prison. According to his official and campaign biographies, Saccone worked as an anchor for an English-language television news station in South Korea, and worked for businesses in South Korea and Central America. He spent 12 years in South Korea, where he met his wife. Saccone's official biography states that he worked in North Korea on "an agreement meant to prevent the development of nuclear weapons there." This was disputed by The Guardian, who stated that Saccone was misleading voters.
In 2010, Saccone challenged incumbent Democratic Rep. David Levdansky for the 39th District seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and defeated Levdansky by 151 votes. Levdansky challenged Saccone to a rematch in 2012; Saccone defeated him again by a margin of 50.2%-49.8%. Saccone was re-elected with 60% of the vote in 2014 and 70% in 2016. The district includes part of Allegheny County and part of Washington County.
2018 U.S. Senate run
In February 2017, Saccone filed with the FEC to run for United States Senate in the 2018 election, seeking to challenge incumbent Bob Casey Jr., and officially declared his candidacy later that month. Saccone is a supporter of Donald Trump and pledged to be a Trump ally if elected to the Senate. On October 8, 2017, he suspended his U.S. Senate campaign to announce that he would seek the Republican nomination for the 18th Congressional District special election.
2018 18th congressional district special election
On November 11, 2017, Saccone became the Republican nominee for the 18th Congressional District special election held on March 13, 2018. The special election attracted national attention. Republicans spent more than $8 million on television advertising, twice as much as the Democrats, and Republican stars including Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Mike Pence came to the state to campaign for Saccone. As of March 14, Lamb led Saccone by 647 votes, mainly due to winning the Allegheny County portion of the district by 15,400 votes; Saccone won the rest of the district by 14,700 votes. The result of the election was considered too close to call by most news outlets, since the candidates were separated by only 0.2 percent, and a recount was expected. However, when it became apparent that Saccone would not be able to overcome Lamb's slim lead, he called Lamb to concede the race on March 21.
Regular election for 14th congressional district
After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out the congressional map drawn by the state legislature and replaced it with a court-drawn map, most of the old 18th District was renumbered as the 14th District. On paper, the new 14th is even more Republican than its predecessor; Trump would have won it by 29 points had it existed in 2016. On March 15, Saccone announced that regardless of the final result in the special election for the 18th, he will run in the regular election for the new 14th. On May 15 Saccone lost the primary for the 14th district against Guy Reschenthaler.
In 2013, Saccone attracted attention for introducing the National Motto Display Act, a bill to require public school districts in Pennsylvania to post "In God We Trust" in every school building. The 2013 legislation failed, but in 2016, Saccone co-sponsored similar legislation. The bill passed on a 179-20 vote in May 2016. The legislation was criticized by secular advocacy groups, such as the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Also in 2013, Saccone sponsored a "day of prayer" resolution, seeking to designate April 30 as a National Fast Day. In January 2012, Saccone introduced to the state House a nonbinding resolution to declare 2012 as the "Year of the Bible" in Pennsylvania. The resolution passed unanimously, but was criticized by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The resolution drew considerable political controversy in Pennsylvania, as well as national attention. The Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a federal lawsuit over the resolution, Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Saccone, alleging a violation of the Establishment Clause. U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Conner dismissed the suit on the grounds of legislative immunity, but criticized the legislature for using state resources to "provide a re-election sound bite for use by members of the General Assembly."
Religious views
In an interview in 2017 with the Pastors Network of America, Saccone stated that God wants those who have the "fear of God in them" to "rule over us".
Donald Trump
During his brief 2018 Senate run, Saccone pledged to be a Trump ally if elected to the Senate. In January 2018, Saccone was endorsed by Trump after winning the Republican nomination for the 18th congressional district special election.
Economy
Saccone supported the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018, saying "I'm sorry I wasn’t there to vote for it". Over the course of the campaign for the 2018 special election seat, Saccone distanced himself from ads which touted his support for the tax cuts and the ads, which while prominent at the start of the campaign, were cycled out.
Government spending
In February 2018, it was falsely reported that Saccone used his legislative expense account, which is funded by taxpayers, at a greater rate than other lawmakers.
Guns
Saccone is known for his strong advocacy of gun rights. In 2017, he sponsored at least four bills seeking to expand the rights of gun owners; one such bill would amend state law to prohibit discrimination against gun carriers; a co-sponsorship memorandum for the bill criticized Chuck E. Cheese's for its "policy barring customers from carrying firearms inside" the venue.
Organized labor
Saccone favors right-to-work legislation, which makes it illegal for workers in unionized workplaces to be compelled into joining unions. According to NBC News, "Saccone’s conservative record has united organized labor against him." Saccone disputes the characterization, saying "the union members have always voted for me. Their leadership has never represented their members, and they know that."
Lobbyism
Saccone introduced legislation that would prohibit public officials from accepting "transportation, lodging or hospitality or anything of economic value as a gift" from lobbyists. Saccone said, "I have at least 20 lobbyist groups that have never taken me out for anything. They come to my office, they make their pitch and they go away. And that is how it should be." However, it was later reported that Saccone did routinely get meals paid by lobbyists; Saccone justified getting gifted meals by lobbyists, saying that he had to have the meals with the lobbyists because other lawmakers did and he did not want to isolate himself from other lawmakers.
Interrogation
Saccone advocated for waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and other forms of "enhanced interrogation" in articles and his book.
Allegations of wasting government money
According to The Intercept, records recovered from the Pennsylvania General Assembly showed that Saccone often spent extensively on non-essential items. They stated that Saccone often used taxpayer money "for meals, per diem payments, and other items at a rate higher than most lawmakers." The investigation showed that Saccone purchased 36 line items for various flag and flag accessory purchases totaling $4,436.30. Saccone also spent $117,400 to lease an office from Dowling Properties, a real estate company founded by Celine Dowling, one of his campaign donors.
Personal life
Saccone is a Baptist. He is married to Yong Saccone whom he met in South Korea. The couple have two sons, Nick and Matthew.
