USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Democrat Rep. Conor Lamb won a red seat last spring and it looks like he may win another won in November.

Matt Gorman, a spokesman for the House Republican campaign arm, confirmed Friday afternoon that the National Republican Campaign Committee had stopped spending to try and help incumbent Rep Keith Rothfus in Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District. an indication that they have written off the seat as a loss.

“Our strategy was to build the largest offensive battlefield in a decade to stretch Republicans thin and force tough choices on which incumbents to protect," Meredith Kelly, the spokeswoman for the Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee said Friday. "Keith Rothfus just learned that it’s working.”

Rothfus, a Republican, is in the rare position of facing-off against Lamb, a centrist Democrat who is also a sitting congressman, because the Pennsylvania congressional map was redrawn for the November election.

Lamb's name identification is high because he narrowly won the blockbuster special election for Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District in March. The 18th District was held by a Republican for a decade-and-half and President Trump won in by 20 points in 2016.

But after the new map was put in place, Lamb's house was redrawn into the 17th Congressional District for the November election, so he signed up to run against Rothfus who currently represents the 12th District but under the new map would represent the 17th.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated the 17th District as "lean Democratic."

Rothfus has been in Congress since 2010. Lamb is a freshman who was able to bolster his profile during the spring special election which drew top names from both parties. President Trump came to stump for Lamb's opponent and former Vice President Joe Biden campaigned for Lamb.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court redrew the map after ruling in January districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered in Republicans' favor, but the special election was under the old map.