Winners and Losers for the week ending March 16

Conor Lamb can't rest on his yet-to-be-sanctioned laurels. Rick Saccone won't be able to talk about how he's not a quitter. The state Democratic and Republican committees, the PACs, the pundits – if they haven't put the remarkable PA-18 special election in their rearview mirrors yet, then they're going to have trouble catching up to those who have.

As tempting as it may be to continue to rehash and sift through the election and its aftermath for clues as to how the rest of the midterms will go, there is no time to do so: There are just four days left before candidates for the Commonwealth's redrawn congressional districts have to deliver their petitions with the signatures of at least 1,000 district residents to the state. That includes both Lamb and Saccone: the district they fought so hard to represent will cease to exist as of the upcoming election cycle, assuming the state Supreme Court's maps are allowed to stand.

Judging from the week's other winners and losers, they'll have a lot of company in the filing line on Tuesday.

WINNERS

Conor Lamb: He has yet to be declared the official winner of the PA-18 special election, and he’s got precious little time before he will have to launch into campaigning for the newly created PA-17, but Lamb’s landmark showing in this ruby-red district is already being touted as a blueprint for Dems running in conservative districts across the country.

Chrissy Houlahan: Scoring an endorsement from Joe Biden, arguably the most popular Democratic figure today, is a win for Houlahan, who is trying to unseat Republican Congressman Ryan Costello in the newly created PA-6.

Students and school administrators: Thousands of schoolchildren from across the Commonwealth joined millions of their compatriots nationwide on the one-month anniversary of the massacre at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. At many of these schools, not only did administrators allow the action, but they encouraged it and contributed toward making it a teachable moment.

LOSERS

Rick Saccone: As Lamb’s star ascends, Saccone’s sinks accordingly after flubbing what should have been an overwhelming win in PA-18 – but not enough to dampen his plans to run in the newly drawn PA-14. His performance against Lamb has other Republicans smelling blood in the water, though – Saccone will have to face off against at least one other candidate in the GOP primary.

Joe Hoeffel: the former three-term Congressman from Montgomery County threw his hat in the ring once again in a bid to secure the Democratic nomination for the newly drawn PA-4 seat. Despite his lengthy involvement in county, state and national politics, and his name recognition, Hoeffel failed to reach the necessary 60 percent threshold at the  Montgomery County Democratic Committee Congressional Endorsement Convention. As a result, he will have to run in an open primary against three female opponents during what is shaping up to be the Year of the Woman –midterms edition.

The PA Turnpike Commission: Thanks so much to the commission for teaching us about pickle liquor, which, sadly, is not the same nor even loosely related to delicious pickle juice, pickle brine or Pickle Rick, but is instead a sludge that will now cost $3.7 million to remove from the construction site of the Southern Beltway in Washington County as a result of improper handling of the potentially hazardous material.