Republican Congressman Scott Perry may be in danger of losing his Pennsylvania U.S. House seat while several former GOP colleagues back his Democratic challenger.
Perry, former chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who has been representing Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District since 2019, is facing a close race against Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson in this year’s election. The seat is among several that Democrats are hoping to flip to help them take back control of the House in January.
While polling of the race has been limited, a Susquehanna survey released on October 9 showed Stelson, a former news anchor, leading Perry by 9 percentage points. The Cook Political Report also moved Perry’s race from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up” in its election forecast earlier this month.
On Monday, former Republican U.S. Representatives Barbara Comstock, Adam Kinzinger, Denver Riggleman, Dave Trott and Joe Walsh issued a letter endorsing Stelson and labeling Perry as “the only member of the Pennsylvania delegation” who often opposes “common sense measures,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by Axios.
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Perry was also slammed over his support for former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a “stolen” 2020 presidential election, with his ex-colleagues pointing out that he was accused of directly participating in a plot to overturn President Joe Biden’s win and had his cellphone seized by the FBI in 2022.
“Scott Perry’s lack of remorse for his actions is a slap in the face to every public servant who has made the United States the greatest country in the world,” the letter reads. “Our nation deserves better than someone who was so easily willing to break his sworn oath to the Constitution for political expediency.”
“We need leaders who will tell the truth and be willing to work in a bipartisan fashion no matter what party to deliver for Americans. Janelle Stelson is the candidate in this race who will do just that,” it continues; “Having known and worked with Scott Perry, we urge our fellow Republicans to join us in supporting his opponent.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Perry campaign via email on Monday night.
In a statement to Axios, Perry said that it was “not surprising, and certainly pathetic, to watch my former Never Trump colleagues endorse radical Leftists like my opponent.”
“Just like my opponent, they don’t understand our values because they don’t live here either,” he added. “No one in my district knows who they are and their endorsements mean nothing to her campaign—or to mine.”
Stelson, a former Republican, touted the endorsements and another recent one from former Pennsylvania GOP Congressman Jim Greenwood in a series of posts to X, formerly Twitter.
“I am proud to have him join the growing number of Republicans who are ready to reject extremists like @ScottPerryPA at the ballot box,” Stelson wrote on Monday.
Polling of the race is encouraging for Stelson but largely inconclusive due to the small number of surveys. The Democratic candidate had a clear advantage of 48 percent to 39 percent in the Susquehanna poll, which has a 5 percent margin of error and was conducted among 300 likely voters from October 4 to October 7.
The only other publicly released polls suggest a much tighter race. A Democratic Party-sponsored poll released in early August had Stelson leading Perry by 1 point, while a poll released in early June by Franklin & Marshall College Center for Opinion Research showed Perry leading by 1 point.
The Cook Political Report’s U.S. House Editor Erin Covey suggested that Stelson’s fundraising and advertising advantage could play a role in the election’s outcome while shifting the forecast toward the Democrat.
“Stelson has spent $3.8 million to date on TV, digital and radio ads,” Covey wrote on October 18. “Perry, meanwhile, has spent a little under $1 million dollars on the airwaves … Republicans are still optimistic Perry will make it across the finish line, but Stelson’s spending onslaught has propelled this race into the Toss Up column.”
