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July 26th . Len’s Political Note #741 Janelle Stelson Pennsylvania 10
2026 General Election
At the end of her newscast on September 21, 2023, Janelle Stelson announced she would be leaving WGAL-TV. This was after “nearly 40- years as a journalist, 26 of them at WGAL.” She saved her other announcements for later. She had registered two internet domain names – StelsonForCongress and JanelelleStelson.com. She changed her registration from Republican to Democrat.
At 63, she was ready for a new career. This adventure was fueled by disdain for the former president, Donald Trump, and for District 10’s Member of Congress, Scott Perry. Janelle Stelson lost the race in 2024 by 5,133 votes. She did not lose her ambition for replacing Scott Perry in Congress.
In 2026, Janelle Stelson will be armed with wholehearted support from the national Democratic establishment and by a different context. Her 2026 entrance is accompanied by a poll that shows her leading Scott Perry by a 46 – 43 margin with an astonishingly low 11% undecided. People in Pennsylvania 10 remember her – from her campaign in 2024 and from her time as WGAL’s news anchor. They know her as a politician now and give her only a modest 35-33 favorability rating. Scott Perry, on the other hand, is in a pretty big hole. His favorability is 36 – 49.
In 2024, Janelle Stelson was disadvantaged running in a district that was part of Pennsylvania’s shift to the Republicans. No state was more crucial to Trump’s election than Pennsylvania. What’s more, the state was flipping a Democratic Senate seat.
The context in 2026 appears to be different. Republicans were in lockstep, supporting Donald Trump’s grade inflationary B-, B-, B- bill that attacked rural health care in order to give tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy, Janelle Stelson could say: “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.”
Her statement does not reflect my view of Scott Perry. I do not think of him as an ordinary career politician. I want Scott Perry out because of his role in 2020.
Defeated in the 2020 election, Donald Trump had an Acting Attorney General, Jeffrey Rosen. Trump wanted Rosen to force the Georgia legislature to overturn that state’s announced presidential results. Rosen resisted. Congressman Scott Perry had a plan for Trump. Replace Jeffrey Rosen as Acting Attorney General with the head of the Justice Department Civil Division, the compliant Jeffrey Clark.
When the rest of the Justice Department leadership learned of the possibility that Trump might replace Rosen, they revolted. At a secret meeting, they decided they would all resign if Trump dropped Rosen for Clark. The threat prevented Trump from acting.
Subsequently, Scott Perry insisted he had no such plan. He acknowledged discussions of the plusses and minuses of options regarding the Justice Department with the President. Scott Perry also acknowledged that, during that transitionary period between the election and Trump leaving office, he had introduced Jeffrey Clark to the President.
The FBI investigated Scott Perry, seizing his cell phone in 2022. A court order prevented the FBI from investigating the Congressman’s communications with his colleagues. As with the court cases themselves, any actions about any inappropriate manipulation of the Justice Department by Scott Perry were delayed into oblivion.
Janelle Stelson is smarter than I am. She is focusing on Scott Perry’s recent voting record, his abjectly following Donald Trump as he creates national crisis after national crisis, as he and the Republican legislature swap health care funds for tax cuts for the wealthy. Janelle Stelson has the tools to make that focus work.
Janelle Stelson was born in Alaska, grew up outside of Seattle, and went to the University of Puget Sound in the state of Washington. In Washington, her mother was a receptionist, her dad a state trooper and then a teacher. Janelle Stelson came to Pennsylvania to work as a television weather anchor and news reporter. She moved on to WGAL-TV, in 1997, to anchor the late-night news and became a familiar figure to the people of the region. She married medical doctor Steve Houser and was settled in. Sadly, she was widowed in 2016.
After her 2024 loss, Janelle Stelson could have retreated to the life of a minor celebrity in Central Pennsylvania. Instead, she has come back for more. She knows how to communicate and she knows what she is communicating:
Bring down the cost of living: Central Pennsylvanians are working harder than ever and falling further behind.
Fix Congress. …ensure Representatives are responsive to their constituents and not special interests or personal greed. She is with Texas Republican Chip Roy in banning Members of Congress from stock trading.
Fix Health Care. “I support high quality, affordable health care.” Scott Perry, she says, was the deciding vote to cut health care for 20,000 people in Pennsylvania’s 10th District.
Fix immigration. …”.both parties have botched the crisis for years”. She advocates for controlling the border and the asylum system.
If I were an academic, I might do a study of the success frequency of losing candidates running for a second or third time. Janelle Stelson is a strong second-time candidate in a district that could go Democratic, but has not. She is virtually scandal-free. The closest to a scandal, which Scott Perry attempted to exploit in 2024, was off-hand banter between TV anchors in which she suggested that cats can be used for food in Asia. As with almost everything, Scott Perry’s comparative scandal is worse. He had to take down an antisemitic page from his website depicting Jewish bankers dripping with money. DONATE to Janelle Stelson. She could be part of the Democrats achieving a majority in the House of Representatives. COH She starts the third quarter with $300. The incumbent has $1.2 Million.
House Districts Democrats can flip about which I have already written – with end of second quarter Cash on Hand information.
New York 21. Dairy Farmer Blake Gendebien to replace Congresswoman Elise Stefanik who Trump was going to nominate as UN Ambassador then changed his mind; who will almost certainly be running for Governor of New York leaving Democrats with a chance to flip and Open Seat. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #706. COH $2 million v Inc. Elise Stafanik had $10 million. But, almost certainly, she will use those funds for a run for Governor.
Iowa 01. Law professor Christina Bohannan to oust congresswoman Marianette Miller-Meeks who, like almost every single Republican who claims to be a moderate, simply does not come through when it counts. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #737. COH $800,000 v $2.1 million for the incumbent
Montana 01. Businessman Russell Cleveland to oust congressman Ryan Zinke who was too corrupt to keep in Trump’s cabinet during his first term. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #740. COH. $17,000 v $1.8 million for the incumbent.
Incumbents we should protect. I have their Cash on Hand information
California 13 Congressman Adam Gray who won by 187 votes in 2024. DONATE See Len’s Political Note #716. COH $800,000 v. $40,000 for the only Republican candidate
California 45 Congressman Derek Tran who won by 653 votes in 2024. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #717. COH $1.2 million v $.9 million for the former US Rep who has not announced her candidacy.
Ohio 09 Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur who won by 2,832 votes in 2024 DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #718. COH $900,000 v $90,000 for the only potential opponent who reported any funds available
Maine 02 Congressman Jared Golden who won by 2,706 votes in 2024. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #719. $1 million v the only announced opponent, the former state governor and he did not submit a report
Texas 34 Congressman Vicente Gonzalez who won by 5,237 votes in 2024. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #720. COH $900,000 v the only announced opponent at $140,000
North Carolina 01. Congressman Don Davis who won by 6,307 votes in 2024. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note $721 COH $1.1 million the only announced opponent at $2.2 million
California 27. Congressman George Whitesides who won by 7,990 votes in 2024. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #726. COH $1.5 million v nothing reported for the only announced Republican who announced recently.
New York 19 Congressman Josh Riley who won by 8,357 votes in 2024. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #727. COH $1.2 million v so far, no Republican opponent yet.
Ohio 13 Congresswoman Emilia Sykes who won by 8,542 votes in 2024. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #728. COH $600,000 v $300,000 for the only announced Republican
New York 04 Congresswoman Laura Gillen who won by 8,603 votes in 2024. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #729. COH $1 million v no reports from either of two potential opponents
California 09 Congressman Josh Harder who won by 7,973 votes in 2024. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #730. COH $2.9 million v $2,000 for a potential opponent
If Democrats can hold all of their seats and flip three, the House will have a Democratic majority,
GIVE OF YOURSELF AS WELL.
Join peaceful demonstrations. I hope you found a place to march on July 17. Look around. Many communities have weekly demonstrations against Trump. Find one and join. Call your Senators and Members of Congress. Remind them Trump and the Republicans have been created huge tax cuts for the wealthy, sharp reductions in Medicaid for those who are not wealthy, and increased our national debt in the process.
