Republican Rep. Scott Perry staved off a stiff challenge from Democrat Janelle Stelson in a U.S. House race in Pennsylvania to win a seventh term.
On Wednesday afternoon, The Hill/Decision Desk HQ called the race for Perry. With 99% of the vote reporting, Perry leads Stelson by more than 6,000 votes with more than 400,000 votes recorded, WHTM-TV, the ABC affiliate in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, reported.
Perry, 62, was seeking a fourth term from Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District after three terms representing the 4th District. Prior to that, he served in the Pennsylvania State House.
Stelson, 64, is a Republican-turned-Democrat former TV anchor.
Janelle Stelson, the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, answers an interviewer’s questions in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 19. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
Perry, a former chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, was endorsed by Gun Owners for America and the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, among other groups.
Among his key issues were assisting veterans, defending life, and protecting the Second Amendment and Title IX’s support of women’s sports.
In an interview on Fox Business, Perry said the biggest issues in Pennsylvania are the economy, with public safety and national security being close runners-up.
“People can’t afford their lives anymore,” he said. “Just in the span of four years, their regular daily lives have been turned on their heads. They’re buying their groceries with their credit card bills. They can’t afford their electricity rates, day care. Heaven forbid you’ve got to buy a new car or home.”
Perry’s website said he opposed tax increases by the Biden-Harris administration.
“First of all, quit spending all of America’s taxpayers’ money that they don’t have,” Perry said during an interview on WPMT-TV, the Fox affiliate in York, Pennsylvania. “They can’t afford it, and they don’t want to buy things that they can’t afford and don’t need.”
Perry is the grandson of Colombian immigrants and began working at the age of 13, picking fruit at a farm in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Throughout his life, Perry has held positions such as a mechanic, dockworker, a licensed insurance agent, and a draftsman.
Perry graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor of science degree in business administration management. He started a mechanical contracting firm with his mother in their garage. Perry served in the military, retiring as an assistant adjutant general in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
He is married with two daughters.
