PA-10 debate night: Scott Perry and Janelle Stelson spar over the economy, the Iran war and elections

Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry and Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson went toe-to-toe on the debate stage Wednesday night at a debate hosted by WHTM ABC27 News in Harrisburg, where the two faced off in a fiery meeting that saw the two candidates spar over the economy, foreign policy, healthcare and how they would represent the 10th Congressional District. 

This year’s election is a rematch of the 2024 contest, when Perry defeated Stelson by just over 5,100 votes. With the Nov. 3 general election just weeks away, City & State breaks down some of the biggest moments from the 10th Congressional District debate. 

Focusing on the war in Iran and rising costs

The United States’ ongoing war with Iran has remained a central issue in the race, with Stelson routinely criticizing Perry over his support for the war. Stelson has said the conflict has led to spiking gas prices across the country, and added on Wednesday that ending the war in Iran would be one of her top priorities if elected to Congress. 

“I think the war in Iran should end almost immediately. It’s one of the first things I’d like to take care of if I’m lucky enough to get to Washington,” she said on the debate stage. “It’s not just the gas prices we’re all paying. Look at the family farmers here – the cost of diesel (has) skyrocketed. It’s at record highs. Our farmers have to harvest when they have to harvest; they can’t wait until the cost goes down.”

Stelson noted that Perry has voted six times to allow the conflict to continue. “It’s hurting all of us every day,” she said. 

Perry said he was the most qualified person on the stage on matters of foreign affairs, pointing to his experience as a brigadier general in the Army National Guard. He added that the rising cost of diesel has “nothing to do with Iran” and said the war between Russia and Ukraine has driven up diesel prices. 

“Iran has declared war on the United States. As a matter of fact, they did it about 50 years ago, and they’ve killed or maimed tens of thousands of Americans. When they credibly threaten you with nuclear war, something had to be done – and it has been done,” Perry said when asked about the ongoing conflict. “Now it needs to be ended swiftly, and it needs to be ended so that it is permanent.”

Perry said he supports a moratorium on the federal gas tax to offset high gas prices and encouraged Gov. Josh Shapiro to suspend the state gas tax as well. “Pennsylvania pays the second-highest gas tax in the nation, and while this is happening, we could actually lower the rates for consumers by getting rid of those taxes,” he said. 

The candidates also discussed healthcare costs and the policies they support to drive them down.

Stelson condemned Perry over his votes in Congress, saying his support for President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill imperils Medicaid funding and could ultimately harm hospitals. “One of us voted for a bill that is threatening struggling hospitals. Only one of us voted to take healthcare away from people who live here and need it. That’s Scott Perry. He did that in the Big Beautiful Bill,” Stelson said.

The Democratic nominee also criticized Perry for voting against legislation that allows the government to negotiate prescription drug prices for selected medications. “This is one of the only congressmen across the entire country who voted for the government not to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies because he’s also taking money from them,” Stelson said. “I would like to negotiate for more drugs, and I’d like to open it up for more ages.”

Perry blamed the Affordable Care Act for driving up healthcare costs and called for an overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system. “We need to reform the system so that you’re not taxed for healthcare, so that there’s transparency, so that there’s portability, so that we can see what the prices are, so that we can shop around, that we’re focused on wellness as opposed to sick care, which is what we have now,” Perry said. “Obamacare – the Affordable Care Act – isn’t affordable, and it’s been an abject failure. She wants to continue it,” he added, referring to Stelson.

Taking sides on AI and data centers 

With data centers proposed in multiple locations in the 10th Congressional District, both Perry and Stelson shared their views on data center development and how policymakers should address risks associated with frontier AI models. 

With residents across the state pushing back against data center development in their respective communities, Stelson said data center developers should bring their own power and commit to protecting local water supplies. She also said local governments and communities should be able to reject projects that don’t fit their communities. 

“The most important thing here is to make sure that state and local authorities have the ability to say no without being punished,” she said.  

Perry criticized Shapiro for state-level policies, including tax breaks, that encouraged data center development in the commonwealth. “What I wouldn’t do is offer the richest multinational companies on the planet tax breaks and tax credits from Pennsylvania taxpayers to jam their data centers into Pennsylvania, but that’s what the governor did, which I can’t control,” he said. 

Perry also touted his vote for the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill that seeks to protect ratepayers from data centers' energy demands. The bill asks state utility regulators to consider implementing a standard that would require large-load customers, including data centers, to cover 100% of the cost of power generation and transmission upgrades. 

The candidates also discussed threats posed by sophisticated AI models and whether to slow AI development. 

While Perry did not endorse slowing AI development, he said AI developers must be held accountable when a model acts in ways that harm the public. “I have a lot of concerns, notably that AI now is attacking other AI,” he said. “One of the big problems with that is there’s no accountability. The folks that put this stuff together point to the model and say, ‘Well, the model did it. I can’t do anything about it.’ That dog’s not going to hunt. Somebody, some person, is going to have to be accountable for the mishaps of AI.”

Perry said a slowdown in AI development, something championed by leaders at large AI companies, would give China a major advantage. “China is not slowing down. Whoever wins this race will dominate the planet,” he said.

Stelson said the United States needs to “slow down the process a bit” to avoid any adverse consequences from AI development. 

“We definitely want to be leaders in the world, but we need to make sure that AI works for us and not that we work for AI. A lot of people are worried about losing their jobs, their livelihoods. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen,” she said. “We just need to make sure that we have regulations so that AI, which sounds like it’s going to be one of the biggest things that’s ever happened on this earth, we need to make sure that humans are in charge of it.”

Sparring over votes and Jan. 6

Unlike last week’s gubernatorial debate between Shapiro and Treasurer Stacy Garrity, the PA-10 debate got heated as Stelson and Perry lobbed verbal barbs at each other throughout the hour-long debate. 

On Medicaid work requirements in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, Perry criticized Stelson for supporting some components of the bill, like the work requirements, but not others. “My opponent likes to say, ‘Well, I like this part and I like that part.’ Like I said, either she’s lying or she’s incompetent. That’s not how Congress works. You either accept the whole bill or you don’t accept the whole bill.”Stelson took issue with Perry accusing her of lying or being incompetent. “I’m just talking about your voting record, sir. If you don’t like it, you should get a different job,” she said.  

“I’m definitely fine with my voting record. If you will characterize it appropriately, it won’t be a problem,” Perry said. 

“We’ll ask the folks at home how they feel,” Stelson replied. 

Later in the debate, Stelson accused Perry of being an “architect” of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol, pointing to Perry’s efforts to contest the 2020 presidential election results. 

“You are an architect of the deadly insurrection on Jan. 6. You asked for a presidential pardon because you were so deeply involved,” Stelson said Wednesday night. 

“That’s a flat-out lie,” Perry shot back. 

The U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack said in its final report that Perry was one of several congressional Republicans “attempting to assist President Trump to overturn the election results.” However, Perry, who objected to Pennsylvania’s election results in 2021, said Wednesday night that he was “collateral damage” of a weaponized federal government.

“I wasn’t a target of the investigation, but she continues to have that narrative that I had anything to do with Jan. 6 when I was inside the Capitol doing my job that the voters elected me to do when the people came into the Capitol,” he said. “I didn’t invite anybody to it. I didn’t go to the rally. Had absolutely nothing to do with it, but the lie lives on.” 

“Congressman, you stood on the floor of our U.S. Capitol and told every person watching right now that their votes should not count,” Stelson said. “No, that’s not what I said,” Perry responded, without elaborating. “That’s another lie.”

During the debate’s closing statements, Perry said he has delivered results for his constituents. 

“I have delivered results … I’ve done exactly what you’ve asked me to do. I’ve delivered (on) reducing taxes on tips, taxes on overtime, a tax cut for our seniors. I voted for the largest tax cut in American history,” he said. “I didn’t make a lot of friends in Washington, D.C., either when I forced them to vote to end insider stock trading, but it had to be done, and somebody had to lead on it.”

Stelson said the differences between her and Perry couldn’t be clearer. 

“On Nov. 3, I hope you will take a deep look at what you've heard tonight and what you see on our commercials,” she said. “You can vote for somebody who for 14 years has been doing exactly what you have now, or you can vote for somebody who’s telling the truth, who will work every day to make your life better.”