Justin Douglas leans on his experience in PA-10 Democratic primary race

Justin Douglas has stayed busy throughout his first term as Dauphin County Commissioner. 

Since his election to the board in 2023 – a win that helped Democrats flip the board of commissioners into their control for the first time in 100 years – Douglas has championed reforms to the troubled Dauphin County Prison, worked to improve voting access by expanding the number of ballot dropboxes available and backed efforts to boost pay for county employees. 

He’s also had a front-row seat to some of the biggest challenges facing the region and its residents, and says he’s seen firsthand how President Donald Trump’s second term has affected the county, which motivated his decision to run for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. 

“I think this particular federal administration has made it very hard to be a state, county or municipal leader in Pennsylvania,” Douglas told City & State in an interview. “They’ve cut a lot of funding; they’ve been incredibly erratic with their decision-making. I don’t think they consider much of what their policies are going to affect below them."

“If I was granted the opportunity to be a congressman, I’d be able to bring that fight to Washington through the lens of what our community truly needs as a county commissioner,” he added. “I have an understanding of not just what our county needs … I have an understanding, regionally, of the needs that exist.”

Douglas, who worked as a pastor for 20 years prior to his election as a county commissioner, said one of the key moments that influenced his decision to run for higher office was the effect that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids were having on Central Pennsylvania’s immigrant families. He said he worked actively to connect local Bhutanese Nepali families with loved ones slated for deportation so they could say goodbye one last time. 

“I sat in the lobby as those people walked back and visited with their loved ones and came out in tears. That’s a hard thing to experience,” he said. “That was an activating moment. I didn’t necessarily, at that moment, think, ‘I’m running for Congress’ – but as people inquired about that in the following year, it was something I started considering.”

To date, Douglas has picked up endorsements from several organizations representing immigrants and communities of color, including the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, One Pennsylvania, and CASA In Action.

In the 10th Congressional District Democratic primary, Douglas is running against former news anchor Janelle Stelson, who narrowly lost to incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in 2024 and is running again with the backing of Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Dauphin County Democratic Committee, and a slate of labor unions and local elected officials. Stelson also has a considerable fundraising advantage: She reported having more than $3.3 million in cash on hand at the end of April, compared to $10,594 for Douglas. 

However, while Douglas has acknowledged the fundraising gap between him and Stelson, he has stressed that he’s the only candidate in the primary with public office experience.

“I’m the only person in this race with experience as an elected official, at least on the Democratic side, and I think that experience is going to serve me really well in Congress,” he said.

Having campaigned for changes at the Dauphin County Prison during his 2023 county-level campaign, Douglas is proud to have worked to eliminate $65 million in room-and-board debt that the county charged former inmates, as well as to select a new healthcare provider for inmates. He also touted his work to increase the number of ballot drop boxes the county offers from two to seven, implement a ballot-curing process for voters, and raise the minimum wage for county employees to $16 an hour. 

Douglas says there’s no shortage of issues he hopes to address if ultimately elected to Congress. One of his top priorities would be bringing federal funding back to the 10th Congressional District and Central Pennsylvania.

“The economics right now are hard, and we need to ensure that we’re bringing back relief to this region,” he said, stressing the importance of job-creating economic development projects. “There’s so much potential in this region … there’s so much opportunity, and much of that requires investment – I’ll be able to fight for that.”

Douglas also supports major reforms to ICE, increasing the minimum wage, establishing paid medical leave and implementing a universal healthcare system. He also said he’d sign on to legislation that would ban congressional stock trading and push to combat corruption in government: “I don’t think anyone should be profiting off their seat.”

“In both parties, you have people in Congress trading stocks, often on information that they attain through their seat. You now have stock trackers that will make trades off of the trades that members of Congress will make – and will outperform some of the best minds in investment. That’s a feature, not a bug,” he said. “I would want to sign the strictest legislation to ensure that those kinds of practices stop immediately.”

Douglas hopes that his 2023 election win can serve as a blueprint to flip another red seat blue in this November’s general election, and says the county needs a “new generation of Democrats right now.” And while he acknowledges that there’s plenty of work to be done in Dauphin County, a seat in Congress could give him a stronger platform to advocate for the needs of Central Pennsylvania residents. 

“I think there’s a lot more work to do in Dauphin County in my role as commissioner,” he said. “But I also think this is an opportunity for me to continue to serve Dauphin County at a higher level, in knowing what I know about the resources we need and how the federal government can play a role in that.”