In 10th District debate, GOP incumbent Perry and Democrat Stelson agree on immigration, differ on abortion

• Jordan Wilkie/WITF
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 Courtesy of Stelson and Perry campaigns

Candidates for the Pennsylvania 10th Congressional District. Janelle Stelson, left, and Scott Perry, right.

Democratic congressional candidate Janelle Stelson on Tuesday night said she agreed with her opponent on the need to deport undocumented immigrants.

During the first and only scheduled debate between Stelson and Rep. Scott Perry in the closely watched 10th House District race, Stelson said, “I’d like to secure our border and make sure they don’t get into the country. The ones who are here, we need to find out where they are and they need to be sent home.”

Polls have shown that the 10th District race is one of the more competitive in central Pennsylvania. A Franklin & Marshall College poll released in June showed Perry leading Stelson among registered voters, 45% to 44%, with 11% undecided.

Stelson, a former news anchor at WGAL, lives in Manheim Township as she campaigns for a seat representing all of Dauphin and parts of Cumberland and York counties. Stelson has promised to move to the district if she wins election in November.

The stakes for both parties are high, given Republicans are defending a narrow majority in the U.S. House. As of July 26, Republicans had 220 seats to Democrats’ 212; there are three vacancies in districts that split 2-1 in favor of Democrats, putting the potential party breakdown at 221-214, or just 7 seats.

Stelson, a newcomer to politics after a more than 30-year career in local broadcast news, also largely agreed with Perry on supporting the proposed restart of Three Mile Island Unit One and enforcing term limits.

But she hit Perry on his support for a national ban on abortion and on his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Perry, a staunch Trump ally, was noncommittal on whether he still supports a national ban on abortion, and said his appointment to the House Intelligence Committee shows he did no wrong after the 2020 election, despite an FBI investigation into his involvement.

First elected to the U.S. House in 2012, Perry is seeking his seventh term. Originally elected to a Republican-friendly district, Perry’s reelection races have been more competitive since court-ordered redistricting in 2018.

Though he defeated Democratic challengers by six points in 2020 and 2022, Democrats view his seat as vulnerable.

Candidate positions 

During the debate, hosted by abc27 and moderated by anchor Dennis Owens, Stelson said voting by mail is secure, pointing out that some states like Colorado and Oregon vote entirely with that method.

Stelson’s campaign has said she’s in the race because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the right to abortion. She said Congress should pass a law to codify the Roe v. Wade decision, overturned in 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Republicans, Democrats, independents want to have control of their own bodies,” Stelson said. “I think that’s reasonable. I don’t think Scott Perry needs to be involved in telling you what to do in your most intimate health care decisions.”

Perry made false claims about abortion under Roe. He also did not state whether he supports leaving abortion laws to states or favors passing a national ban. Last year, Perry sponsored a bill to ban abortion nationwide. The Republican Party, including presidential candidate Donald Trump, has issued inconsistent messaging about whether to leave abortion laws up to states or to institute a national ban.

“That position of being for Roe, understand what that means. That means taxpayer funded abortion for any reason under the sun including sex selection or disability up until and including the moment of birth,” Perry said.

Unrestricted abortion until birth has never been the law nor a policy platform of the Democratic Party.

Perry also made false claims about the security of mail-in voting in his opposition to the practice, resurfacing a debunked 2020 rumor that mail ballots were being discarded and shredded.

His position also contrasts with the state and national GOP, which are sponsoring voter education efforts to get more registered Republicans to sign up to vote by mail.

Though not mentioned in the debate, the candidates previously laid out opposing positions on renewing  the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, signed by then-president Donald Trump, which will expire at the end of 2025. Perry is in support of renewing. Stelson, opposed.

Pennsylvania’s voter registration deadline is October 21. Voters can request mail-in ballots until October 29, though elections officials uniformly say acting earlier is better. The election is November 5.

As of June 30, Perry reported having $788,000 available for his campaign, with debts totaling $109,000. Stelson reported having $1,115,000 in her campaign account, with no debts. The next campaign finance filings from the candidates are due on Oct. 15.

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