Former WGAL anchor Janelle Stelson secured a decisive victory in the 10th Congressional District Democratic Primary against progressive Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas Tuesday night. She led by 69-31 with an estimated 71% of the vote in just after 11 p.m., according to the Associated Press’ tally of unofficial results.
Her victory sets up a re-match against incumbent Republican Rep. Scott Perry in November, who she lost to narrowly in 2024. The 10th District includes all of Dauphin County and parts of Cumberland and York Counties.
“I hear every day about the need to lower costs, protect Social Security and Medicare, make healthcare more affordable and fight the corruption in Washington,” Stelson said in a statement Tuesday night. “Our community is ready for change. I am running to give Central Pennsylvanians the voice we deserve and to take on a broken and corrupt Washington.”
Stelson was the preferred candidate of the Democratic Party. She earned the endorsement of key figures like Gov. Josh Shapiro and groups like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She also proved one of the best fundraisers of any Pennsylvania congressional candidate.
Although Stelson narrowly lost to Perry two years ago, her performance still made her an early favorite among party insiders to challenge him again. She outperformed other Democrats on the 2024 ballot in her district like presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in a year when the party faced major headwinds.
Ultimately, she lost by just over 1% of the vote – coming closer to defeating Perry than any candidate in a general election since he entered office in 2012.
Stelson was a registered Republican until changing her registration before entering the race in 2023. She’s since pitched herself as the best-positioned candidate to defeat Perry in November — a natural fit to win over moderate and independent voters wary of Perry’s support for unpopular actions of the Trump administration.
Throughout the primary, she largely ignored the challenge from Douglas, declining multiple opportunities to debate him. She instead focused on campaigning against Perry from the jump, painting him as overly-loyal to President Donald Trump and extreme even among MAGA Republicans.
Justin Douglas speaks to supporters at an election night watch party on May 19, 2026 (photo by Ian Karbal, Capital-Star) “When you talk about the current primary, we’re really excited to get past it and take on Scott Perry,” she told the Capital-Star last week.
“The story of Scott Perry just keeps getting worse,” she added. “We had January 6 before and a number of votes that hurt us, not help us. Then you had the Big Beautiful bill that is taking away healthcare coverage from millions of Americans, and Medicaid from 20,000 right here in central Pennsylvania.”
Her approach drew criticism from Douglas and his supporters, who said she was denying voters a chance to compare their platforms in the name of political expediency.
“People are hungry right now for authenticity,” Douglas said in a concession speech Tuesday night. “We need real people in our politics. They’re hungry for courage and bold representation. They’re hungry for people who show up and answer tough questions instead of giving status quo answers.”
But Stelson’s campaign remained focused on Perry. She sought to link Perry to issues of affordability and to paint him as extreme, even among MAGA Republicans. She highlighted his support for President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, his one-time support for a national abortion ban, and his backing of the Trump administration’s increasingly unpopular war in Iran.
Along with name recognition from her years as a TV anchor and previous congressional run, Stelson heads to November with more campaign funding than Perry. So far, she’s outraised him, bringing in $4.7 million during the primary alone versus Perry’s $4.4 million.
Janelle Stelson speaks to a supporter outside a Harrisburg polling place on May 19, 2026 (photo by Ian Karbal/Capital-Star) Perry was first elected to Congress in 2012, in what was then the safely conservative 4th District. After court-ordered redistricting in 2018 placed him in the new 10th District, he’s faced a much more competitive electoral landscape.
This year, Cook Political Report rates the district an even “toss up,” a slight shift to the left since 2024.
Perry has proved a resilient candidate, even in the more moderate district. Still, in 2024, Stelson came within striking distance.
In a statement released after the Associated Press called the race for Stelson, Perry took a combative stance.
“The more things change, the more liberals remain the same,” he said. “Tonight, they nominated the same carpetbagging, racist, tax hiker we defeated less than two years ago. The People of south central Pennsylvania want a leader to fight for them and their values in Congress, and that’s what I’ve done every day that I’ve had the honor to represent the 10th Congressional District.”