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March 22 (UPI) -- Eight days after special election results in Pennsylvania's 18th district showed a razor-thin victory for Democrat Conor Lamb, Republican Rick Saccone conceded the race. "Just got off the phone with my opponent, @RickSaccone4PA, who congratulated me & graciously conceded last Tuesday's election," Lamb tweeted Wednesday night. "I congratulate Mr. Saccone for a close, hard-fought race & wish him the best. Ready to be sworn in & get to work for the people of #PA18."
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National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Jesse Hunt confirmed Saccone's concession to CNN.
Saccone's concession comes just one day after President Donald Trump said Saccone lost the race during a speech at a Republican fundraiser in Washington, D.C. while the aspiring congressman was reportedly pursuing legal challenges regarding the race's outcome.
"Good man, Rick Saccone. Good man. And [he] didn't quite make it. But lost, think of it, lost by about 300 votes out of all those votes," Trump said.
Lamb beat Saccone by about 600 votes.
With Saccone officially out of the way, Lamb will be sworn in as the next congressman from Pennsylvania's 18th district. But because this race was a special election, he will have to get back to campaigning almost immediately for the upcoming Democratic primary on May 15 -- and several Democrats are already set to run.
In addition, new voting district maps in Pennsylvania means Lamb, a conservative Democrat, will run in a more liberal district than the one where he beat Saccone.
Nonetheless, Lamb's campaign manager, Abby Murphy, told the Washington Post he has strong support and gathered 4,000 signatures in just four days, easily passing the required 1,000 signatures.
"Everybody is welcome to run in this election," Murphy said. "But there's one incumbent congressman, and that's Conor Lamb. The congressman-elect is focused on getting to work for the people of the [old] 18th District while getting caught up on the issues affecting these new voters in the 17th."
