‘We are putting America first’: U.S. Rep. Scott Perry campaigns with Mark Teixeira in PA’s 10th Congressional District

With the Major League Baseball postseason in full swing, U.S. Rep. Scott Perry campaigned in Harrisburg on Wednesday with Mark Teixeira, a five-time Gold Glove-winning first baseman and current Texas congressional candidate who encouraged voters to reelect the former Freedom Caucus chair in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. 

Perry, speaking to voters at a campaign event and MLB playoff watch party in Harrisburg, said it’s critical that Republicans retain control of Congress in this year’s midterm elections. 

“We are putting America first – things are looking up,” Perry said, touting a drop in the nation’s inflation rate since former President Joe Biden held office. He said that while voters have expressed concerns with the economy and the cost of living, the nation’s economy will continue to improve with the GOP in control of Congress. 

“Are prices still too high? Absolutely, but we are working on it,” Perry said. “The question you have to have for yourself is: Do we want to throw away everything we’ve invested and bring these other people in that created the 9% inflation? Because that’s what we’re talking about right now.” 

Perry said Republicans have achieved major victories during President Donald Trump’s second term, including Trump’s signature tax bill that established tax deductions for tip income, overtime compensation and senior citizens. 

Teixeira, who won a 12-way Republican primary in Texas’ 21st Congressional District in March, drew a stark contrast between the visions Democrats and Republicans have for the country. “The Republican Party right now is facing a group on the other side that totally wants to remake America,” Teixeira said, in a nod to the self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist candidates that have found success in congressional races across the country. 

Teixeira, who is endorsed by Trump, said while Republicans may have their own differences of opinion within the party, they agree on the “big things,” including “a secure border, safe streets, not putting our children and grandchildren into debt that they will never come out of.”

“This seat is so important. Pennsylvania is so important to this country,” Teixeira added. “This is a special place … It will only stay special if we have men like Scott Perry in office.”

In addition to Teixeira, Perry was also joined by U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a fellow member of the House Freedom Caucus who represents Georgia’s 9th Congressional District. He said Perry was critical to obtaining congressional reforms during a 2023 fight to determine the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, including helping conservatives gain seats on key congressional committees and increasing the amount of time members have to review certain large, omnibus bills.  

“Scott Perry was the chairman of the Freedom Caucus during that fight, and the wins that we got fundamentally changed the way Congress operated,” Clyde said. “We need Scott back in Congress. We need to keep our majority. This is one of those battleground seats that is so critically important to the fact that we keep the Republicans in charge.”

Perry is facing Democrat Janelle Stelson in a rematch of the 2024 race in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. In 2024, Perry defeated Stelson by 5,133 votes. 

Public polling on the race suggests Perry and Stelson are in another close race for the 10th Congressional District seat this year. The poll, conducted in September by Franklin & Marshall College, had Stelson leading Perry by a margin of 47% to 44%, with 9% of respondents undecided. 

According to the Franklin & Marshall poll, 22% of 10th Congressional District voters said the economy and finances were the most important problem facing the state. Government and politicians came in second at 12%, and 8% of voters listed energy issues and gas prices as their top issue. 

Speaking to reporters after the event, Perry said reining in federal spending and cracking down on illegal immigration are two ways he would seek to drive down costs in the U.S. if elected to another term.

“The biggest thing we can do to chip away at (the) cost of living – especially interest rates – is quit spending money we don’t have at the federal level,” he said. “What does that look like? The first thing it looks like is to not have people here that shouldn’t be here. You want to talk about education costs, infrastructure costs, hospitalization and medical costs, law enforcement, education – all these costs. The more of these people that are here illegally, that don’t belong here, raises all of our costs. That’s the first place we can start.”