Incumbent U.S. Republican Scott Perry (R-10th District) faced Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson in their first and only debate on Tuesday night.
Perry has served in Congress since 2013 and was the leader of the Freedom Caucus from 2022-2024. Stelson is a political novice and has been a news anchor in the region for several decades.
Stelson is trying to support Democrats take back the U.S. House of Representatives, which has a slim Republican majority of 220 to 212.
However, he lives outside the 10th District in Lancaster County. Stelson said she has lived in various parts of the district in the past, such as Camp Hill and Harrisburg, and will return after the election.
But this fact still drew criticism from Perry.
“If you’re going to represent the district and raise our taxes, you should live here,” he said.
Stelson accused Perry of being a career politician and accomplishing little during his term. “You’re telling me you can’t afford to live,” she said of Perry’s voters. “My opponent had 12 years to work on it.”
For the most part, however, the candidates made political points rather than personal attacks during the debate.
Economy and housing
The cost of living has been rising since May 2020. According to the Consumer Price Index, it peaked in July 2022. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Moderator Dennis Owens asked candidates questions about how to ensure affordability.
Perry talked about cutting taxes, touting the work he did during former President Donald Trump’s presidency.
“I voted for the largest tax cut in history, putting the people of this district and across the country in Pennsylvania more money in their pockets,” he said. “When I was in Congress four years ago, when President Trump was there, wages were the highest they had been since the Carter administration.”
Stelson talked about raising the minimum wage.
“In Pennsylvania, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour,” she said. “Every state around us has almost double that. In West Virginia, the rate is higher and the cost of living is much lower.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, made a campaign promise to give fresh home buyers a $25,000 down payment.
Stelson did not directly say whether she supports the plan, but said there is a supply problem in the housing market.
According to Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, the number of home listings in Pennsylvania dropped by about 15,000 in August compared to three years ago.
Perry criticized Democrats and the regulations. Additionally, he used his time to say that immigrants are coming in illegally, moving into homes, and putting Americans out of business.
In 2021 approx 16% According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, immigrant households are headed by immigrants. The study did not indicate how many of the 16% were undocumented.
Elections
Perry was one of the signatories of the agreement amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, which challenged the 2020 election results.
During the debate, Perry stated that he received thousands of messages calling for an investigation into the 2020 election.
“There was no investigation,” he said. “Americans in this district and across Pennsylvania must have confidence that they can trust the fidelity of our elections.”
After Trump’s defeat, his lawyers filed many lawsuits challenging the perceived irregularities. Everyone was defeated.
On January 6, 2021, Perry objected to the election results before a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Perry, when the riots end and Congress can return to certifying the results doubled and he continued to deny them.
In August 2022, his name was taken over by the FBI mobile phone.
When asked about this, Perry replied that the media was lying and he was not under investigation.
In December 2023A federal judge allowed prosecutors to access nearly 1,700 records on his phone.
He also argued that voting by mail was not secure, claiming that the U.S. Postal Service illegally destroyed ballots.
This claim is baseless and in some cases videos have been shown postal waste instead of ballots.
Martha Johnson, – said a spokesman for Poczta Polska USA today in 2022 that postal workers are not allowed to tamper with ballots. Allegations of ballot fraud will be investigated by the Postal Inspection Service and the USPS Office of Inspector General.
Stelson said access to voting should be expanded, including by mail. ““It’s a tried and true method of voting, as good as anything else,” she said.
Miscarriage
After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, several states began enacting abortion bans. Abortion remains legal in Pennsylvania until the 24th week of pregnancy.
On his campaign websitePerry claims to be opposed to abortion except in extreme circumstances such as rape or incest. However, he supported A Bill this would mean a ban on abortion throughout the country without exceptions.
When asked about this, Stelson quickly pointed out his support for the bill and said that a pregnant person should be able to make their own decisions.
“There is no reason why Scott Perry knew better than them what to do with his body when making the most intimate decisions,” she said.
Perry continued to say he supported abortion exceptions.
Immigration
Earlier this year, a bipartisan border bill was killed in the U.S. Senate after Trump reportedly expressed his disapproval and feared it could hurt Republicans’ re-election efforts.
Stelson said the Biden administration has not done enough to secure the border. She criticized Perry for flying to the border on a taxpayer-funded trip, but has not provided a solution.
“We’re pretty sure we had a problem at the border,” she said.
She called for more border security agents and judges to ensure immigrants arrive legally.
Perry criticized the current administration for increasing border crossings and said the solution was to return Trump to office.
Term limits
In 2020 Perry supported a term limits amendment that would have constrained House members to three terms.
He said he tried to make this happen during the term of office of the then marshal Kevin McCarthy (California), but the former speaker prevented this from happening.
“The speaker said he would do it. We agreed. We voted for him, but he never did, which means he is no longer speaker.”
Stelson also shared her support for term limits, including for herself.
“I would limit myself if I was lucky enough to get into Washington,” she said. She said the term limit should be 12 years or six terms in the House.
Middle East
Both candidates stated that Israel has the right to defend itself after the attacks of October 7, 2023.
“I support Israel’s right to root out Hamas and decimate a terrorist organization that doesn’t even believe Israel should exist,” Stelson said.
She added that if Hamas releases the hostages from October 7, there will be a ceasefire soon. “I think we should be proud of the leadership roles we play, and obviously you can’t watch this without being devastated by the whole situation,” she added.
Perry said Stelson did not want to criticize members of the Democratic Party who support a free Palestine. “My opponent and the administration do not want to criticize the pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party that exists in America,” he said.
Perry also took the opportunity to criticize the Biden administration for its handling of the war, claiming it was sending money to Israel and Hamas simultaneously.
The United States doesn’t send money to Hamas, but it does humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, as some do Republicans claims fall into the hands of Hamas.
Three Mile Island
The worst nuclear accident in American history occurred in the 10th District on Three Mile Island. The nuclear power plant will reopen for power Microsoft data centers, but may require a federal loan.
Perry said he supports more power but doesn’t think Microsoft needs federal government money for it, considering it is the world’s third-largest company by market capitalization.
Stelson said reopening TMI would be a good idea because it could bring jobs to the area.
The deadline to register to vote is October 21 and the deadline to request an absentee ballot is October 29.
Absentee ballots must be delivered to your local election office by 8 p.m. on November 5.
Voters can register at voting.pa.gov.
This article was updated at 11:15 p.m., October 8, 2024, to correct the year in which Perry was elected
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