Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry is projected to win his re-election effort against Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson in the state’s 10th Congressional District.
With 99% reporting, Perry led with 50.8% of the vote, to Stelson’s 49.2%. President-elect Donald Trump is projected to win Pennsylvania on the presidential level.
The victory puts the GOP one seat closer to the 218 seats needed to secure the House majority. As of Thursday afternoon, the balance of power there is still undecided, with the Republicans leading 209 seats to the Democrats’ 195.
Perry has served as a Pennsylvania congressman since 2013, and currently represents the state’s 10th District, which includes the state’s capital, Harrisburg, as well as Dauphin County and parts of Cumberland and York Counties.
The race for the district’s seat heated up recently even as most attention has been on the Keystone State’s presidential and Senate races.
Rep. Scott Perry speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, Feb. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Perry, who has repeatedly been endorsed by former President Trump throughout his career, is the former chair of the conservative House ​​Freedom Caucus and campaigned on issues such as cracking down on illegal immigration following the “Biden-Harris Administration’s reprehensible, dangerous, and failed border policies,” American energy independence, protecting women’s sports and reeling in inflation following the “the radical Left’s spending increases.”
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Perry faced Stelson, a former broadcast journalist for decades in the Harrisburg area. Just days ahead of the election, the Democratic challenger racked up endorsements from former Republican House members who worked with Perry. Former Reps. Barbara Comstock, Adam Kinzinger, Denver Riggleman, Dave Trott and Joe Walsh threw their support behind Stelson last week and launched a “Republicans for Janelle” group.
Janelle Stelson talks with patrons at the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg on Oct. 19, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Stelson campaigned on issues such as protecting abortion access following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, hiring more border agents to better secure the border, and lowering the cost of living for Pennsylvanians.
The pair traded barbs during a debate last month, with Perry touting legislation he supported under Trump’s administration when the cost of living was cheaper for voters.
“I voted for the largest tax cut in history, giving people in this district and across the country, in Pennsylvania, more money in their pocket,” he said. “When I was in Congress four years ago, when President Trump was there, wages were the highest they have ever been since the Carter administration.”
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A welcome sign greets drivers on U.S. Route 222 entering Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania, from Maryland, 2022. (Charlie Creitz)
Meanwhile, Stelson focused on raising the minimum wage.
​​”Pennsylvania has a $7.25 an hour minimum wage,” she said. “Every state around us, has almost double. West Virginia has a higher rate than that, and the cost of living is far less.”
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Political eyes have been locked on Pennsylvania ​​as Keystone State voters are championed as the ones who will likely determine the outcome of the federal election. Trump narrowly won the state in 2016 when he successfully campaigned against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but lost the state in 2020 against President Biden.
The Senate race between longtime Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick has also attracted a greater focus in the state as the GOP looked to flip that seat red.
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