(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Former news anchor Janelle Stelson launches bid for Congress in Pa’s 10th District [1] ['Charles Thompson', 'Cthompson Pennlive.Com'] Date: 2023-10-04 09:00:00.330000+00:00 Ending the political speculation and confirming the rumors, longtime midstate television anchor Janelle Stelson is running for Congress. Stelson, 63, who resigned her job as weeknight anchor at WGAL News 8 little more than two weeks ago, told PennLive Tuesday she is entering the crowded Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, seeking the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Scott Perry. “It’s been my honor to listen to and tell the stories of hundreds of people in central Pennsylvania, but I just think it’s time to move from the telling to doing,” Stelson said. “I’ve been telling these stories for decades. I’m actually now running for Congress to do something about them.” The first thing she wants to do something about, Stelson said, is ending Perry’s Congressional career. “The thing that really switched the lightbulb on for me (about seeking office) is Scott Perry. I’m leaving a job I love. It’s a fulfilling job. But he’s bad enough that he’s worth jumping off the cliff for. He’s an actual threat to democracy, and that’s worth fighting for.” Her reference there was to Perry’s now well-documented support for former President Donald J. Trump’s groundless challenges to the 2020 presidential election, a cause for which Trump is now facing criminal charges in federal courts and state courts in Georgia. Perry, a conservative Republican from northern York County, has not been charged with any crimes, and he has attempted in the past to characterize his efforts as being responsive to constituents’ concerns, as voiced at the time, about election integrity. Stelson’s campaign is launching Wednesday with an online offensive that will include a campaign video, a Website and several social media platforms. Stelson’s candidacy is distinctive in several ways: 1. It’s unusual, although not unprecedented, for journalists to move from the intentionally non-partisan world of newscasting into the ultra-partisan world of electoral politics. (In the midstate, now-state Rep. Patty Kim, a Harrisburg Democrat, made a similar, albeit shorter leap when she ran for Harrisburg City Council in 2005. Kim had been a reporter and anchor for CBS 21 News in Harrisburg from 2000 through 2004.) Stelson, however, argues the job is an excellent foundation for going into the public policy arena, noting that as a reporter / anchor she made a career understanding both the contours of national issues and how they play out in real terms in midstate communities. 2. She doesn’t currently live in the 10th District, which consists of Dauphin County, Cumberland County from the West Shore of the Susquehanna River to the Carlisle area, and roughly the northern half of York County, including the city of York. Stelson lives in Manheim Township, Lancaster County, which lies in Pennsylvania’s 11th District. Stelson said her focus became specifically fixed on Perry rather than U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, the Republican incumbent from the the 11th, because she saw Perry’s actions following the 2020 vote as part of a larger threat to democracy. “It’s not the most comfortable thing to do. It’s not the easiest thing to do. But he’s somebody who does not well represent the 10th District,” Stelson said. “We’re going to go after him guns blazing.” The plain political truth, of course, is that the 10th is a very different district, too; one that Democrats have been able to win from time to time in state elections. Consider, in last year’s race for governor, Democrat Josh Shapiro defeated Republican Doug Mastriano by nearly 12 percentage points in the 10th. In the 11th, Mastriano prevailed over Shapiro by 6.3 percentage points: an 18-point swing. Stelson has a legitimate case to make that she has been fully-ingrained in the 10th - which lies wholly in the Harrisburg / Lancaster / Lebanon / York television market - for the vast majority of a broadcasting career that started in 1986. “I’ve been living and working in central Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years now,” Stelson said. “I have lived in Harrisburg... I have lived in Camp Hill. New Cumberland. Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County... I’ll put my knowledge of people around here up against Congressman Perry or anybody else running.” The U.S. Constitution’s only residency requirement for serving in the House of Representatives is residency in the state from which one is elected. But the residency question will no doubt be an easy target for any of Stelson’s opponents. Asked if she’s considering pre-empting that issue away by moving into the 10th, Stelson did not give a definitive answer Tuesday. “I am laser-focused right now on launching my campaign and dislodging Congressman Perry. And, you know, I’m going to figure that stuff out in the months ahead.” 3. She’s relatively new to the Democratic Party. Lancaster County records show Stelson was registered in the Republican Party until January 2023, when she switched to Democrat. Stelson said her move - which she noted came as an early step in her progression toward this career change - reflected her disgust with the Republican Party’s allegiance to Trump. But she said the change is also a better reflection of her views, a sampling of which include: Support for federal legislation that would codify the right to abortion as embodied in Roe v. Wade. Continued support for the Ukrainian government’s resistance to the Russian invasion. Acknowledgment that the federal government needs to be an active player in the fight against the worst effects of climate change. An eagerness to tackled long-stalled gun reforms. “I never gave a lot of thought to my party registration because... I was in a job that requires me to follow politics, but I could never be participating or be partisan in any way,” Stelson said Tuesday. “I think every ‘normal Republican has been feeling a little bit disenchanted with their party for quite some time now... And you know, it all kind of adds up cumulatively. When the story about Scott Perry gets so bad that we just can’t even stand it anymore, again, I’ve got to move from the telling to the doing.” Born in Alaska, Stelson spent most of her childhood in Washington state. She landed in South Central Pennsylvania in 1986, to take a broadcast position with Harrisburg’s ABC television affiliate. With the exception of a brief stint in Miami, she’s been here ever since, including the just-wrapped 27 years with WGAL, the region’s top-rated station. Stelson becomes the sixth Democrat to formally announce a bid for the 10th District seat, joining 2022 nominee Shamaine Daniels, Carlisle school board member Rick Coplen, retired Marine Corps aviator Mike O’Brien, political reformer Gene Stilp and retired U.S. Army sergeant Bob Forbes. Perry is widely expected to seek a seventh term in the House, though he has not formally announced as yet. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2023/10/former-news-anchor-janelle-stelson-launches-bid-for-congress-in-pas-10th-district.html Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/