Hey, VICE News fans, it’s me, Evan McMorris-Santoro.This was a big week for politics, which is fortunate when it comes to newsletters because I cover politics a lot for VICE News Tonight (weeknights at 7:30 ET on HBO.)Folks, we gotta talk about this Western Pennsylvania thing.On Tuesday, Democrat Conor Lamb eked out a victory over Republican Rick Saccone in a closely watched special congressional election. Why was it so closely watched? Because it was in the heart of Trump Country, the 18th congressional district. That’s a district the president won by double digits in 2016. So Republicans wanted to show they can hold the line in places they won last time. Democrats wanted to show they can rally behind the kinds of candidates who can win anywhere thanks to Trump’s dismal approval ratings. Lamb fit the bill, it seems (more on how Democrats actually pulled it off here.)But here’s the weird part, as producer Mary Grace Lucas and I reported this week: The race actually didn’t matter. The district both parties were fighting so hard over doesn’t exist anymore.Thanks to redistricting, voters in the 18th are now scattered and divided up in new ways. So if Lamb wants to stay in Congress, he now has to mount a Democratic primary campaign in a district that’s a lot more Democratic than the 18th. Saccone, the defeated Republican? He already started gathering signatures to campaign in a new district where a Republican is all but guaranteed to win. The upshot: It’s more than a little likely the candidates who fought over the 18th like it was the most important election in American history will both find themselves in Congress next year.Some other stuff from VICE News this week that has been good -- and weird, too
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- More from Pennsylvania's wild political world from my colleague David Noriega. Check out his story on Larry Krasner, the new Philadelphia DA who is unabashedly progressive.
- Fellow hyphenated correspondent Arielle Duhaime-Ross went undercover as authorities busted up the illegal ivory trade in … New York City.
- Pistol packing teachers? Old news in several states across this great nation. Tess Owen mapped out the landscape of which states already arm their teachers.
- What happens to dudes who can’t keep a job — or get a job — in the Trump White House because of horrible things they said or background checks they couldn’t pass? They get jobs in the Trump campaign organization. BuzzFeed News’ Tarini Parti reports.
- Some progressives are wrestling once again with Louis Farrakhan and how to handle support from the anti-semitic, homophobic leader. In an opinion piece, Adam Serwer digs in.
- ProPublica fucked up, very badly, on a story about Trump’s nominee for CIA Director. They admitted it, and apologized.
- Rep. Louise Slaughter, Democrat of New York, died at age 88. You should know about her.
- It was SXSW this week. The massive conference came as all three of its featured industries — film, tech, music — are struggling with their role in a changing future and trying to come to terms with their sexist pasts. Lyor Cohen’s keynote on the music industry touched on it all.