But for the first time in decades, the race is competitive. Just a week before the March 13 special election, polls suggest that Saccone’s lead is shrinking: A recent Monmouth University poll showed that Saccone has a narrow three-point point advantage, and on Wednesday, the Cook Political Report upped the seat’s rating from “Leans Republican” to “Toss Up.” Outside PACs have spent millions supporting Saccone, and Trump will visit the area for a second time next week—both signs that Republicans are growing more and more worried.

Democrats in the area are excited to finally have a candidate with a fighting chance, but one reason for Lamb’s success is that he’s taken a different approach than the national party. While many Democrats invoke Trump at every opportunity, Lamb is one of the few who isn’t bashing him. If Lamb succeeds or even comes close on March 13, his race might provide a blueprint for how other Democrats in heavily red districts can win in the midterm elections this fall: by appealing to the same voters Trump did—and criticizing the actions of the Republican-led Congress, rather than the president himself.

Despite media coverage that tends to frame special elections as referendums on the president, Lamb has been careful not to present his candidacy as a way to oppose Trump. Yes, Trump is a historically unpopular leader, and Lamb is running against a Republican who once bragged that he was “Trump before Trump was Trump.” But as members of the campaign team reminded me repeatedly, Lamb wants to focus solely on local issues, and doesn’t want the race to become a tribal contest.

Near the meat counter in the grocery store, Lamb started to introduce himself to Norma Holmes and her friend Pat, but Holmes interrupted him. “Oh, we know you!” she said warmly. Wielding a cart full of Utz salt-and-vinegar potato chips, Holmes explained that both she and Pat have family in the steel industry who are proud union members. “We’re the middle people,” Holmes told Lamb. “And we need help.”

Holmes said she’s voting for Lamb for three reasons: “He’s not a politician. He served the country. He’s refreshing.” The two middle-aged women are both registered Democrats, but Pat actually voted for Trump in 2016. “I go both ways,” she told me, smiling. Lamb “is refreshing. I just hope he doesn’t change.”

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After Lamb finished glad-handing customers, he joined me in a booth at the Starbucks in the front of the store. I asked about the Democrats’ messaging leading up to the midterms, but he wasn’t interested in the question. “I’m really only thinking about the people who live here,” he said, his hands folded on the table. “I don’t really care what the future of the party looks like.”

Saccone’s supporters continue to link Lamb with Nancy Pelosi in ads, but Lamb has pledged that he won’t support the 77-year-old House minority leader. “It’s nothing personal,” he explained. “It’s just that it’s been too long with the same leaders on both sides. But I definitely don’t support Paul Ryan either. I don’t think he’s done a thing for this part of the country.” Hitting the speaker is a theme in Lamb’s campaign, a message he clearly believes will resonate more with voters than bad-mouthing Trump. “Not only does [Saccone] support Paul Ryan,” Lamb said during a recent campaign stop. “His entire campaign is being funded by him, and all of his ideas come out of Paul Ryan’s book.”