The individuals in question had presented false documentation to Pride before technology like E-Verify was available. Pride took the incident seriously and took steps to ensure they wouldn't recur. The discovery that Hackett had previously hired an undocumented immigrant as a maid in his home—albeit he did claim to dismiss her once he learned of her status—was perceived to seriously damage Hackett's public image. On the night of the primary, the nail-bitingly close returns—despite initially displaying a comfortable Meuser lead—were soon indicating a virtual tie for some time throughout the night, with merely more than 100 votes separating the candidates at one point. However, as time passed, Hackett took a lead that seemed to gradually grow within hours. By roughly 11:15 p.m. ET, local news media and the Associated Press dubbed Hackett, who had garnered 52 percent of the vote to Meuser's 48 percent, the projected winner of the primary. When Meuser ran for the 10th congressional district in 2008, he lived in the 11th congressional district, where Lou Barletta was running for Congress against incumbent Paul Kanjorski. Meuser promised that he would actually live in the district by the time voters cast their ballots in the primary election; he had purchased a house in Harvey's Lake, which is in the 10th district, however, he still resides in Dallas, Pennsylvania. In October 2017, Dan Meuser announced that he would run as a Republican to represent Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district. The district had previously been the 11th, represented by four-term fellow Republican Lou Barletta, who was running for the United States Senate. In March 2018, over 100 members of the Lebanon County Republican Committee unanimously endorsed Meuser. Meuser "strongly backs" President Trump's "America First agenda". The Republican primary candidates were Meuser, Scott Uehlinger and George Halcovage. The Democratic candidates were Susan Quick, Denny Wolff and Gary Wegman. The primary election were held on May 15, 2018. On April 18, 2018, the Making America Great PAC announced its endorsement of Meuser. The PAC's chairman said, "Dan is a business-minded problem solver, a conservative, and he is focused on results, not rhetoric. Dan will go to Washington and join President Trump to fight for the America First Agenda." In early May 2018, the Republican Committee of Columbia County met with all three candidates running for the 9th congressional district seat. After a series of questions about their campaign priorities, the committee voted to put its full support behind Meuser.