With the November election just days away, six-term incumbent Rep. Scott Perry offered a stark message to voters at a rally with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). “The devil is everywhere. You can see it in the things we’re talking about,” Perry told a crowd of roughly 200 supporters at an American Legion post in Linglestown, Dauphin County, Wednesday evening.
In his seven-minute speech, Perry talked about what he saw as the successes of the Trump administration – cutting Medicaid spending, sharply curbing immigration and prosecuting the war in Iran – but the devil could be found in the partisan political struggles in Washington, D.C. and the agenda of his opposition. “The adversary’s not in this room,” he said. “The adversary’s out there trying to destroy our country and take our country down.”
As Perry faces what may be his most difficult reelection fight yet, his rally with one of the country’s most powerful Republicans was about setting high stakes. “I don’t mean to make light of this. We are in a battle for the soul of our nation,” Perry said just after taking the stage. He encouraged the crowd to think of the election as part of a “battle between good and evil.”
While Perry framed the election in biblical terms, Johnson, who is third in line for the presidency, warned that if Democrats gain more power – the party is hoping to flip both the U.S. House and Senate – their agenda would be driven by their “Marxist, communist left” flank. “They’re gonna take over the means of production,” Johnson warned. “They’re gonna eliminate private property ownership. I’m not making this up. It’s not just trans surgeries for children and the abolishment of prison. It’s everything. It’s madness.”
Johnson was referring in part to the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America, which calls for abolishing the Senate, abolishing police, and “public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries.” Notably, the Trump administration has announced major public investments in 40 private companies in key industries, according to the CATO institute. That includes taking a roughly 10% stake in the computer chip maker Intel and a 35% stake in an oil company with fields in Venezuela.
Perry, a six-term incumbent, faces former WGAL news anchor Janelle Stelson, who he beat by just over 1% the vote in 2024. That was a year when Democrats underperformed up and down the ballot, and many in Stelson’s camp hope voter dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump can help her finally win a majority vote this year.
In a statement provided to the Capital-Star after Perry’s rally, Stelson, a former Republican, said, “I do not see Republicans as evil. I do not see Congressman Perry as evil. I believe that after 30 years, Scott Perry has been in politics too long. And I believe he is out of touch with our area.” Stelson specifically criticized Perry’s support of the Trump administration’s tariff regime and the war in Iran, and added that she opposes “the policies of a group of far-left members of the Democratic Party who support open borders and defunding police.”
The 10th District race has become the most expensive for a U.S. House seat in Pennsylvania. The two candidates have collectively raised nearly $16 million and Stelson has the fundraising edge. Though recent polling has the candidates locked in a virtual tie.
