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The Case Against Scott Perry

“Scott Perry has spent 30 years in politics putting his own extreme views ahead of the people of Central Pennsylvania. Perry casts extreme votes and serves his billionaire donors, all while unleashing higher prices and devastating health care cuts on his own community. Central Pennsylvanians are ready to turn the page on Perry, and they trust Janelle Stelson because they know she’s an independent outsider with a specific plan to clean up corruption in Washington. Janelle will shine a bright light on Perry’s out-of-touch record and finally give Central Pennsylvanians a representative that fights for them,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.

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To: Interested Parties
From: Eli Cousin, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: May 19, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Scott PerryIn a broken and dysfunctional Washington, Scott Perry still manages to stand out from the crowd as one of the most extreme and out-of-touch members in all of Congress. Perry has made a name for himself by taking the most damaging position possible on seemingly every issue impacting his community. While Perry makes headlines for all the wrong reasons, his Central Pennsylvania constituents are left to pay the price.Perry’s extreme agenda includes slashing seniors’ hard-earned benefits by cutting Social Security and raising the retirement age, banning abortion nationwide with no exceptions, saying that lowering health care costs would be a “colossal mistake,” opposing health care coverage for our veterans, and disparaging our military and brave men and women in law enforcement. Meanwhile, Perry’s hypocrisy knows no bounds: He claims to be ‘America First,’ but proudly supports spending billions of taxpayer dollars overseas on a reckless war in Iran that is driving up prices at the pump; he claims to be a fiscal conservative, but voted to balloon our national deficit to the tune of trillions of dollars; and he claims to fight political corruption, but he’s bought and paid for by his corporate donors.

While Scott Perry puts his own extreme politics and donors first, Janelle Stelson is a trusted independent voice who spent more than 30 years listening to Central Pennsylvanians and uplifting their stories as their local news anchor. Janelle isn’t afraid to hold the powerful accountable – it’s what she’s done her entire career. She’s running for Congress to take on the broken political system that Scott Perry has become part and parcel of. 

Janelle came within roughly 5,000 votes of unseating Scott Perry in 2024 after running one of the strongest campaigns in the entire country. Now the wind is at her back and she is poised to retire Perry and give Central Pennsylvanians the voice they deserve in Congress.

Perry Puts His Extreme Politics Ahead of Central Pennsylvania

You could write an entire novel just based on Scott Perry’s extreme positions and votes while serving in Congress. But here’s all you need to know: none of them do anything to help his own constituents.

Perry has a history of disparaging veterans and voting against health care for those who served our country in uniform. Perry was caught on audio insulting American veterans and troops who disagree with his politics, accusing them of “hating the military” and saying they only serve to “get the credential and then they run for office.” Perry’s extreme rhetoric matches his extreme voting record. Perry voted against the bipartisan PACT Act which provides health care to veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service. Perry also voted against overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation to help house homeless veterans. And Perry has repeatedly disparaged law enforcement while voting against funding the police. He even smeared federal law enforcement agencies as being filled with “anti-American” agents.

Perry is a direct threat to Social Security. Perry expressed support for raising the retirement age and increasing taxes on his own website, demonstrating repeatedly that Pennsylvania seniors cannot trust him to protect their hard-earned retirement benefits they paid into for years. He even said he was “deeply honored” to receive the support of a Koch-backed organization that advocates for the privatization of Social Security.

Perry co-sponsored a law that bans all abortions, with no exceptions, even in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman. He even supports legislation that would endanger IVF and championed an effort to block the military from reimbursing travel expenses for service members seeking reproductive care.

Out of all of his extreme positions, Perry is perhaps best known for playing a “direct role” in the effort to subvert the will of voters in Central Pennsylvania. Since the deadly attack on the nation’s Capitol, Perry has downplayed the events of January 6th, even going so far as to vote against honoring the law enforcement who put their lives on the line to protect our democracy. Perry reportedly sought a pardon for his involvement in the Capitol attack and refused to cooperate with an investigation.

 

With a rap sheet like that, it’s no wonder why Perry refuses to face his constituents and answer questions about his record. Perry hasn’t held an in-person town hall since 2019 and has gone to extreme lengths in the past to dodge tough questions – including running into the woods to avoid speaking with CBS21. His extremism is indefensible.

Janelle Stelson is offering Central Pennsylvanians something different than the extreme politics that Perry practices. Janelle has a plan to shake up a broken Washington through meaningful reforms aimed at rooting out political corruption. She will bring a commonsense approach to Congress to deliver real results for her community and fight to lower costs.

Perry Voted for Devastating Health Care Cuts and Skyrocketing Health Care Costs While Cashing Checks From the Insurance Industry

Perry has made it his mission to make health care as expensive and as hard to access as possible. When House Republicans were debating their historic health care cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill, Perry had one request: he wanted the cuts to be even steeper. Yes, Perry actually advocated for even “more substantial cuts to Medicaid” than the cuts that were already the largest made to Medicaid in history. True to form, Perry even insulted his constituents who rely on Medicaid by calling the health care program a “money laundering” scheme. With tens of thousands of his constituents now set to lose their health care, Perry has resorted to lying to their faces by falsely claiming that people won’t lose their coverage.

As the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits were set to expire and Pennie premiums were about to skyrocket, Perry once again took the most extreme position possible: he said that taking action to lower health care costs would be a “colossal mistake.” Perry’s position has caused Pennie premiums to more than double for people across Central Pennsylvania, with some families paying as much as 221% more for their health insurance.

Perry’s response to his constituents now facing astronomical health care costs is to deflect the blame onto the insurance industry. But the receipts show that Perry has repeatedly “voted for legislation that benefitted insurance corporations and against bills aimed at expanding health coverage for Pennsylvanians.” Perry has taken big money from the insurance industry: Perry received $132,400 from an insurance marketing CEO between 2018 and 2025, and he “accepted $72,500 in contributions from insurance industry political action committees” between 2012 and 2025. Perry returned the favor by voting for tax cuts that benefited the insurance industry and against allowing the federal government to negotiate lower prices for prescription medicine. Perry’s record when it comes to health care is clear: He is in favor of higher costs and less access to care because he does what’s best for his donors, not Pennsylvanians.

One of Janelle’s top priorities when she gets to Congress will be lowering the cost of health care. Janelle backs lowering prescription drug costs, banning surprise billing, and would restore the ACA tax credits that Perry called a ‘colossal mistake.’

Perry Claims to Be ‘America First,’ But Supports Spending Billions Overseas While Costs Rise in Central Pennsylvania and Our Deficit Soars

As the former chairman of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, Perry has spent years crying crocodile tears about the need to rein in federal spending and exit foreign wars. Spoiler alert: Perry’s record shows he’s a massive hypocrite. 

Perry claims to be a deficit hawk, but voted to balloon the federal deficit by $3.4 trillion to give tax breaks to billionaires and campaign donors. Perry lied to his constituents when he stated that “if we’re going to have more and higher deficit spending, that’s going to be a problem for me” – only to turn around and vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill anyway, leaving his Central Pennsylvania constituents to foot the bill.

While Perry insists that there isn’t enough money to lower health care costs here at home, he’s proven that he’s more than happy to put his stamp of approval on spending billions of dollars overseas. While gas prices skyrocket across Central Pennsylvania, Perry is staunchly supporting the reckless war in Iran that is driving up costs at the pump. And Perry backed a multi-billion dollar bailout to Argentina, saying in his own words: “I approve.”

Janelle has a different plan: instead of spending money on endless wars or handouts to foreign countries, she’s running to invest in Central Pennsylvania for her own community. Her plan also includes ending the cost-spiking tariffs that Perry has consistently supported and even dismissed concerns about them directly from his own constituents.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Fox43: Janelle Stelson unveils anti-corruption agenda in bid to unseat Scott Perry [Fox 43, 3/10/26]

The Keystone: Janelle Stelson says it’s time to make Pennsylvania affordable again [The Keystone, 4/10/26]

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Janelle Stelson almost beat Scott Perry in 2024. She keeps outraising him as she prepares for a rematch. [Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/3/26]

Perry, a close ally of President Donald Trump, appears to be in the toughest fight of his political career. 

PennLive: Scott Perry’s Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson attacks him over rocketing gas prices [PennLive, 4/6/26]

NBC News: Republicans who came to Congress to fight the deficit face attacks for raising it under Trump [NBC News, 9/20/26]

Republican Rep. Scott Perry, a past chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, has spent his 12-year career in Congress railing about the ballooning national debt and deficits — what he’s bemoaned as the ‘bankrupting of America.’ But after voting for President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” which is estimated to hike deficits by more than $4 trillion over the next decade, Perry finds himself playing defense on the issue of the skyrocketing national debt.

York Daily Record: Perry says Democrats ‘hate the military’ and serve to get a credential to run for office [York Daily Record, 10/22/25]

Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry argued that Democrats “hate the military” and only serve in the armed forces to “get the credential” to run for public office.

The Keystone: GOP Congressman calls ACA tax credit extension a ‘colossal mistake’ [The Keystone, 9/30/25]

Perry stated that extending those tax credits would be a “colossal mistake” even though premiums for Pennie customers in his congressional district will increase by 170%.

The Pennsylvania Independent: Rep. Scott Perry faces mounting criticism over health care cuts [The Pennsylvania Independent, 3/20/26]

He voted for legislation that benefitted insurance corporations and against bills aimed at expanding health coverage for Pennsylvanians… 

Heartland Signal: Scott Perry backs $40 billion loan to Argentina, despite backlash from local farmers [Heartland Signal, 10/24/25]

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Veterans’ assistance program passes U.S. House, with Pa. U.S. Rep. Scott Perry voting against [Pennsylvania Capital-Star, 12/13/23]

CNN: Scott Perry’s texts reveal details about efforts to overturn Trump’s loss in 2020 [CNN, 11/30/23]

PATH TO VICTORY

Located in South-Central Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District is trending steadily toward Democrats. Among Pennsylvania’s competitive congressional races, PA-10 has moved the fastest towards Democrats in the past three election cycles – there has been upwards of a 3-point increase in Democratic vote share over that period of time. While Trump made gains throughout the Commonwealth, Cumberland County was one of the few areas in the nation to shift towards Democrats for three straight presidential elections.

Scott Perry is losing his grasp on the electorate, notably underperforming Trump in 2024. Janelle Stelson, on the other hand, is a battle-tested candidate who has demonstrated an ability to overperform in challenging environments. In a tough 2024 cycle, Janelle earned 49.4% of the two-way vote – the closest congressional race this district has seen in recent history – running on par with Fetterman’s 2022 performance (49.5%) and significantly outperforming the rest of the ticket. Independents in the district are increasingly souring on the incumbent, and Janelle’s broad appeal proves she can move the needle even when the political headwinds are strong. Black voters in Harrisburg and York overwhelmingly consolidated behind Janelle in 2024, and they will once again play a key role in her path to victory in 2026.

If Janelle was able to make the race this tight in a difficult political landscape, the 2026 environment offers an even greater opportunity for a breakthrough: Governor Josh Shapiro won this district by an impressive 12 points in 2022, demonstrating his cross-party appeal. In 2026, Democrats will have the robust infrastructure and favorable environment needed to propel Janelle’s already incredibly strong campaign across the finish line.

As voters look for pragmatic leadership and leaders who put them first, Scott Perry has never been more vulnerable – and he has his own extreme record to blame. Central Pennsylvanians are rallying behind Janelle Stelson because they know she’s an independent voice who will finally take on a broken Washington and fight for them.
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