Five former House Republicans on Monday endorsed Democrat Janelle Stelson in her bid to unseat Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and urged their GOP colleagues to follow suit.
In a letter, first reported by Axios, former Republican Reps. Barbara Comstock (Va.), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Denver Riggleman (Va.), Dave Trott (Mich.) and Joe Walsh (Ill.) sharply criticized Perry for his role in the leadup to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and noted he is “consistently rated as one of the least bipartisan members of Congress.”
“Perhaps nothing is more emblematic of Perry’s brazen self-interest than his involvement in the plot to overturn the results of the 2020 election,” they wrote in their letter.
A former chair of the House Freedom Caucus, Perry has been the subject of the FBI investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and he had his cell phone seized in the process of that probe.
The former GOP members noted in their letter that, according to former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony, Perry requested a presidential pardon for his actions leading up to the Capitol attack.
“Scott Perry’s lack of remorse for his actions is a slap in the face to every public servant who has made the United States the greatest country in the world. Our nation deserves better than someone who was so easily willing to break his sworn oath to the Constitution for political expediency.”
The members noted that Stelson is a former Republican “running on a mainstream platform,” while blasting Perry for voting against bipartisan legislation, including the PACT Act, which expanded VA benefits and provided compensation for burn pit victims.
“At this moment of great consequence in American history, we need leaders who will tell the truth and be willing to work in a bipartisan fashion no matter what party to deliver for Americans. Janelle Stelson is the candidate in this race who will do just that,” they wrote in the letter.
“We know how difficult it is to vote for a member of the other political party, but having known and worked with Scott Perry, we urge our fellow Republicans to join us in supporting his opponent, Janelle Stelson,” they added.
Perry – who served in the military for nearly 40 years, flying 44 combat missions in Iraq – retired in 2019 at the rank of Brigadier General. He released an ad on Monday with testimony from his fellow veterans touting his military service.
He dismissed the significance of the endorsements in a statement through his spokesperson.
“It’s not surprising, and certainly pathetic, to watch my former Never Trump colleagues endorse radical Leftists like my opponent,” Perry said in a statement, accusing his opponent of supporting “a radical social agenda that runs counter to the values of my south-central Pennsylvania constituents and our values.”
“And just like my opponent, they don’t understand our values because they don’t live here either,” Perry continued in the statement. “No one in my district knows who they are and their endorsements mean nothing to her campaign – or to mine.”
The race is gearing up to be one of the closest and most high-profile in the country.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report recently shifted Perry’s race toward the Democrats, from “lean Republican” to “toss up.”
“While the political environment should still favor Perry, his unique vulnerabilities, coupled with Democrats’ spending advantage, moves this race from Lean Republican to Toss Up,” Cook’s Erin Covey wrote.
