Rick Saccone

Richard Saccone (born February 14, 1958) is an American educator and far-right politician who represented Pennsylvania's 39th district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2011 to 2018. A Republican, he was his party's nominee for the March 2018 special election to fill in the vacant U.S. House seat for the 18th congressional district. Saccone lost to Democratic candidate Conor Lamb by a margin of 0.3%. Following an investigation into Saccone's role in the attack on the Capitol, Saccone resigned his position as an adjunct professor at Saint Vincent College before he could be dismissed.

On August 31, 2021, Saccone declared his intention to run for lieutenant governor in the 2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election. He finished second in the primary behind Carrie DelRosso.

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. 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 to 2005.

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.

Saccone's official biography states that he worked in North Korea on "an agreement meant to prevent the development of nuclear weapons there." Saccone wrote two books about dealing with North Korea and his time spent there, Living with the Enemy: Inside North Korea, and Negotiating with North Korea.

Political career

Pennsylvania House of Representatives 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 (50.3% to 49.7%). Levdansky challenged Saccone to a rematch in 2012; Saccone defeated him again by a margin of 50.2%-49.8%.

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.

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 (twice), 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. In the final tally, Saccone lost by 0.3 percent.

Regular 14th congressional district election

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 (55%-45%).

Participation in the 2021 Capitol attack

On January 6, 2021, Saccone took part in the pro-Trump riots outside the United States Capitol building. On his Facebook page, he posted a video, in which he said "They broke down the gates. They're macing them up there. We're trying to run out all the evil people in there and all the RINOs who have betrayed our president. We're going to run them out of their offices" and made a post captioned "We are storming the capitol... Are with me?", during his participation. Saccone subsequently deleted the video.

Saccone's campaign in the 2018 special election attracted national attention, and was seen by many political analysts and commentators as a bellwether on the popularity of the Republican party, Trump's taxes on foreign-made steel and aluminum imports, and the 2018 House election. Saccone has purposely stoked this portrayal, and called the special election a referendum on the Presidency of Donald Trump.

Abortion Saccone introduced bills to limit abortion rights. He supported legislation that would effectively ban abortions after 20 weeks of gestation.

Church and state Saccone's beliefs are strongly influenced by Christian reconstructionist and author David Barton, who also introduced at a rally during Saccone's 2018 special election run.

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" (the national motto) in every school building.

The 2013 legislation failed, but in 2016, Saccone co-sponsored similar legislation (which would encourage but not mandate the posting of the motto in schools). 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. 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."

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".

Budget, taxation, and fiscal policy Saccone supported the federal Republican tax legislation enacted in 2017, saying "I'm sorry I wasn’t there to vote for it."

In 2017, Saccone was part of a faction of Republican state lawmakers who sought to close a $2.3 billion (~$ in ) deficit in the state budget through spending cuts alone; Saccone said that he preferred to close the budget gap by redirecting non-General Fund funds in "nonperforming" (unused) special funds but that he was open to across-the-board spending cuts.

Education While in office Saccone has consistently called for spending cuts, including to funding for early childhood and K-12 education, public libraries, and child welfare.

Guns Saccone is known for his strong advocacy of gun rights. According to NBC News, "Saccone’s conservative record has united organized labor against him."

Lobbying 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.

Torture Saccone advocated for waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and other forms of torture in articles and his book.

Roy Moore special election

In 2017, during a special election campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, Saccone defended Republican nominee Roy Moore, who had been accused of sexual misconduct involving teenage girls; after a reporter asked a different Republican state representative (Kathy Rapp), whether she found it "compassionate that your party may soon elect an accused child molester to the United States Senate," Saccone remarked, "Do you believe in the presumption of innocence?" 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.

Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district special election Republican conferree meeting CandidateFirst ballotPct.Second ballotPct. 74 34.4% 123 57.5% 75 34.9% 91 42.5% 66 30.7%