Five Former House Republicans Urge Voters Not to Reelect Scott Perry: ‘Having Known And Worked With’ Him

AP Photo/Marc Levy

Five former House Republicans published a scathing letter on Monday urging voters to dump their former colleague Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA).

Ex-Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-VA), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Denver Riggleman (R-VA), Dave Trott (R-MI), and Joe Walsh (R-IL) all signed the letter, which was first reported on by Axios, urging voters to back Perry’s Democratic opponent Janelle Stelson.

Perry, the former chair of the House Freedom Caucus, is in a tight race against Stelson. Cook Political last week moved Perry’s race into Toss Up territory as the polls have tightened. “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 said of the race.

“As current and former leaders from the Republican Party, it is rare for us to endorse a Democrat running for Congress,” began the letter from the former House Republicans, adding:

But as people who know and have served with Scott Perry, we are moved to endorse his opponent, Janelle Stelson. Where Stelson will work with Republicans and Democrats to find common ground, Scott Perry is consistently rated as one of the least bipartisan members of Congress. He is routinely the only member of the Pennsylvania delegation – Republican or Democrat – to oppose common sense measures that would improve the lives of his constituents, including legislation to protect firefighters and crack down on human trafficking.

Scott Perry also turned his back on our brave veterans by being the only Republican or Democrat in the Pennsylvania delegation to vote against legislation to house homeless veterans. He also opposed the bipartisan PACT Act, the largest expansion of VA benefits in history, which provided healthcare and compensation to servicemembers who suffered from toxic burn pit exposure. These are the men and women who risked – and in many cases, gave – their lives to defend our freedom.

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. After playing a direct role in the effort to nullify the will of Pennsylvania’s voters, Perry had his cell phone seized by the FBI and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal defense fees. Former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson testified under oath that Perry requested a presidential pardon for his actions in the leadup to the deadly January 6th insurrection.

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.

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. Janelle was a Republican for most of her life and she is running on a mainstream platform of cutting taxes for the middle class, securing the border, lowering the cost of living, adhering to the Constitution, and supporting democracy and fair elections.

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.

Read the full letter here.