The presidential election season is officially underway, and the fight for control of Congress is on the line in November. The House of Representatives is divided into districts based on the state’s population. Pennsylvania currently has 17 Congressional Districts, with nine represented by Democrats and eight represented by Republicans. House members serve a two-year term and all 17 seats are up for election this year. Pennsylvania is once again a pivotal battleground state and one of the most hotly contested House seats is PA-10 . Although currently held by a Republican, Democrats hope to flip the seat this year. This has many Democrats flocking to the ticket to take on incumbent Republican, Representative Scott Perry, who took office in 2013. PA-10 consists of Dauphin County (Harrisburg, Middletown, Hummelstown, and Hershey), as well as most of Cumberland County ( New Cumberland, Lemoyne, Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg, and Carlisle) and parts of York County (York City, Dover, Manchester, and Dillsburg). Many Etown students come from these areas and will help decide the outcome, so it is incredibly important to make an informed decision in November. As local ABC affiliate ABC News 27 points out, Perry’s margin of victory peaked in the 2014 election, with 74.5% of the vote in PA-4, a district which favored conservative voters. After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court redrew the congressional voting maps, Representative Perry was redistricted into PA-10, winning his race by a mere 8,000 votes.
Although Perry has gradually increased his margins since the 2018 election, he received just 53.8% of the vote in 2022, a far cry from the margins he received a decade ago. Many Democrats view Perry as vulnerable and suggest that Perry’s support in the district is weak and are optimistic that this race is competitive and their chance to finally flip his seat blue.
According to an interview with the Hill in 2018, Perry was born in San Diego and raised from an early age in the Harrisburg area. Growing up in a working class family, Perry’s first job at age 13 was picking fruit. He graduated from Northern York High School and received a degree in Business Administration from Penn State. Perry served in the Pennsylvania National Guard from 1980 until 2019, where he obtained the rank of Brigadier General in 2014. Perry served in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 2007 until 2013 and has served in the U.S. House of Representatives ever since. In 1993, Perry started Hydrotech Mechanical Services, a water flow testing business located in Dillsburg. Perry’s legislative agenda includes support for small government policies, limited spending, the agricultural industry, the pro-life movement and additional border security reforms. As leader of the Freedom Caucus, one of the most far-right caucuses in the House, Perry is one of the most conservative members and has remained an unabashed supporter of former president Donald J. Trump.
Two Pennsylvania Republicans, Doug Mastriano and Rick Perry, were key figures in former president Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Perry had his cell phone seized and has been part of the FBI’s ongoing investigation into overturning the results of the 2020 election.
