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Former local TV anchor joins race to take on far-right icon Scott Perry [1]

['Daily Kos Staff']

Date: 2023-10-04  

Longtime local TV news anchor Janelle Stelson, who stepped down last month after 27 years working for NBC affiliate WGAL in Lancaster, announced Wednesday that she would seek the Democratic nomination to challenge far-right Rep. Scott Perry in Pennsylvania's 10th District. Stelson joined the already-busy race to take on the Republican, who is one of the most prominent Big Lie spreaders in America, the same week that Army veteran Bob Forbes kicked off his own campaign against the Freedom Caucus chairman. Located in the Harrisburg and York areas, the 10th backed Donald Trump 51-47 in 2020.

Stelson, who moderated debates between Perry and his Democratic opponents in both 2018 and 2020, will likely start out with plenty of name recognition in the district: The entire seat is located in the Harrisburg media market, which is served by WGAL. However, the new candidate lives in the Lancaster suburbs, a dark red area that is represented by 11th District GOP Rep. Lloyd Smucker rather than by Perry. (Lancaster and York have a famous rivalry known as the "War of the Roses," though unlike the eponymous 15th-century English civil war, this conflict revolves around high school football.)

Stelson, though, told PennLive.com that she's lived in various communities in what's now the 10th District during her long career, saying, "I’ll put my knowledge of people around here up against Congressman Perry or anybody else running." The former anchor, who was a registered Republican until February, added, "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."

Forbes, meanwhile, is also a first-time candidate, though his wife serves on the governing body for the small Harrisburg suburb of Camp Hill. PoliticsPA writes that Forbes did several overseas deployments, including to Afghanistan and Iraq, and he became a local substitute teacher after retiring in 2018.

Stelson and Forbes launched their respective campaigns the month after two other contenders, businessman John Broadhurst and Marine veteran Mike O'Brien, also got in. The Democratic field also includes Harrisburg City Council member Shamaine Daniels, who lost to Perry 54-46 last year, and Rick Coplen, who unsuccessfully sought the nomination against Daniels. However, neither repeat contender had more than $20,000 banked at the end of June. ABC 27 also reported last week that Blake Lynch, who works as an executive at central Pennsylvania's NPR affiliate WITF, is also considering running.

Perry, who was first elected in 2012 to what was a safely red constituency, has long been one of the more extreme Republicans in the House, and he did nothing to moderate himself after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the GOP-drawn gerrymander in 2018 and left him with a more competitive seat. Perry only turned back George Scott 51-49 after a surprisingly expensive battle in that blue wave year, but he prevailed 53-47 in 2020 against a more prominent Democrat, then-Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.

Democrats, including DePasquale, hoped that the 2022 round of redistricting would leave Perry with an even more competitive seat, but they were disappointed when the state's highest court made few changes to the 10th. DePasquale ended up sitting the race out and Daniels struggled to raise money even after the FBI confiscated the incumbent's cell phone as part of an investigation into Perry's role in attempts to overturn Joe Biden's victory.

Perry, who has not been charged with anything, won by 8 points in 2022, but Democrats are arguing that the party's better performance at the top of the ticket that year bodes poorly for his future prospects. According to data from the state election officials, Republican Mehmet Oz carried the 10th by a tiny 49-48 as he was losing the Senate race to John Fetterman, while now-Gov. Josh Shapiro defeated Republican Doug Mastriano 55-43 that same night. Stelson is hoping those latter results will give her a path to victory over Perry, and she launched her effort by linking him to his fellow election denier Mastriano.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/4/2197430/-Former-local-TV-anchor-joins-race-to-take-on-far-right-icon-Scott-Perry?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_recent_news&pm_medium=web

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