Janelle Stelson's Chances of Beating Scott Perry in PA House Race: Poll
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Democrat Janelle Stelson holds a slight lead against Representative Scott Perry for a House seat in Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District, new polling shows.
According to polling from the leading super PAC supporting House Democrats in next year's midterms shared with Politico Playbook, Stelson, a former local TV anchor, is 3 percentage points ahead of Perry in a head-to-head matchup.
Newsweek has contacted the House Majority PAC for comment.
Why It Matters
Perry, former chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, has represented the district since 2019. He may be in danger of losing his seat to Stelson, who narrowly lost to him by just over 5,000 votes in November.
What To Know
The survey from the House Majority PAC, conducted July 10-11, asked: "If the candidates for Congress next time were Democrat Janelle Stelson and Republican Scott Perry, who would you vote for?"
The poll found 46 percent of likely voters said they would vote for Stelson, while 43 percent backed Perry. Eleven percent were undecided.
The survey also measured voter sentiment toward both candidates. When asked whether they held a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Stelson, 35 percent said they viewed her favorably, while 33 percent had an unfavorable view. Thirty-two percent said they were unsure.
Meanwhile, 49 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Perry's job performance, while 36 percent expressed approval and 16 percent were undecided.
"Today I'm announcing my Congressional campaign against Scott Perry. He just voted for the biggest Medicaid cuts in history, to pay for billionaire tax breaks. We deserve better than a career politician who keeps selling us out," Stelson said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
What People Are Saying
Janelle Stelson, in a statement announcing her congressional bid: "Scott Perry has spent more than a decade in DC taking votes that hurt us instead of delivering results – and he just sold us out again by casting the deciding vote for the largest Medicaid cuts in history, all to fund more tax cuts for billionaires.
"People around here are sick and tired of career politicians like Scott Perry betraying them at every turn. I'm running to give Central Pennsylvanians the voice they deserve and to fight to lower costs, protect Social Security and Medicare, ensure a woman's right to choose and secure the border."
National Republican Congressional Committee's (NRCC) spokeswoman Maureen O'Toole, in a statement on Monday: "Welcome back to certified loser Janelle Stelson! If there's one thing we know for sure, it's that Janelle Stelson, who won't even bother to live in the district she wants to represent, doesn't stand a chance against Scott Perry. Pennsylvanians have rejected her before, and they'll gladly do so again in 2026."
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