HARRISBURG, Pa. — Republican Rep. Scott Perry was one of Donald Trump’s key allies in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. But this year, even his Democratic challenger says her message about upholding democracy wasn’t the centerpiece of her campaign in this increasingly urbanized — and competitive — district.
“While there are people who are still really excited about January 6, it has evolved,” said Janelle Stelson, the Democrat who wants to dethrone Perry in this central Pennsylvania district. She said the costs of food, gas, housing and health care are “the everyday things that resonate more with people than January 6, even though no one likes that and didn’t want their votes to be overturned.”
Like other Democrats, Stelson used the Jan. 6 riot as one plank in a broader message, wrapping Democratic norms in a discussion of Republican extremism.
It’s a strategy that has continued to evolve in the years since the 2021 Capitol riot. Democrats, from Kamala Harris to candidates further down the ballot, have focused on abortion rights and the economy, but they have also recognized the power of issues like upholding democracy to strengthen their base and peel away moderate Republicans who may be dissatisfied with their party.
National polls generally show that preserving democracy is the most important issue for voters – or one of the most important issues, along with topics such as the economy. And there are deep divisions between the parties: A recent national Gallup poll shows that Republicans are more likely to see the economy as a top issue, while Democrats say it’s about democracy. If a Democrat relies solely on the message of democracy to get those crossover votes, that message may not resonate.
Highlighting Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly’s comment that Trump is a “fascist,” Harris delivered her closing message at the Ellipse last week — a deliberate contrast to Trump’s speech before the 2021 Capitol riot at the same place. But many of her ads focus on her background, abortion rights and the economy.
Affordability and abortion rights were the top two issues for local voters in Pennsylvania’s 10th District, Stelson said in an interview at her campaign office. The third: “broken Washington,” a broader idea about polarization, extremism and gridlock in Congress. That includes — but is more than — concerns about the attack on the Capitol and Trump and Perry’s efforts to undermine the election results, she said.
In a recent ad, she noted that Perry was “spreading the crazy conspiracy theory that Italian satellites rigged the last election” — a phrase sandwiched between calling him a lying “career politician” and warning that he will “raise taxes and will decrease”. Social Security.” In her closing statement during her only debate with Perry, she called him out for being “investigated by the FBI” and accused him of misconduct, saying that “you don’t ask for a pardon when you haven’t done anything wrong (Perry has denied asking for a pardon.)
Perry played a crucial role in pushing for an eleventh-hour leadership change at the Justice Department to facilitate Trump’s efforts to undermine the 2020 election results when department leaders refused to promote false claims of voter fraud. Perry’s phone was seized by the FBI in August 2022 as part of an investigation into these efforts, but there is no indication he is the target of a criminal investigation.
In the debate with Stelson, he said that “he is not under investigation” and that it is a “falsehood… that is a propagation by my opponents on the left that is often parroted by the mainstream media.”
Perry’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
In conversations with voters in Perry County, few who said they support Stelson proactively raised democracy as a top issue. Instead, they said abortion and the cost of living are more at the top of the agenda. When asked if democracy is a motivating factor, they said it is – even if it pales in comparison to other topics.
Perry’s supporters, meanwhile, brushed it off.
“We don’t want to hear about January 6 anymore,” said Terri Binette, who supports Perry. “No one wants to stay there. What use will that be?”
That divide is the problem when you try to rely on the message of democracy to win in these types of districts, says Craig Snyder of Republicans Against Perry: Opinions about January 6 are “ingrained.”
“I don’t think people look at how they vote for Congress in terms of, ‘Is this person going to save democracy or hurt democracy?’” he said. Those issues are important, he added, but they are less effective at convincing swing voters, especially if Perry has not been charged with a crime. “It’s not like there’s a threatening cloud hanging over his head related to January 6. That was there at one point, but nothing happened, and so I don’t think that will be the main motivator for swing voters.”
Heading into the midterm elections, Democrats grappled with how effective democracy messaging would be as they faced off against dozens of candidates pushing baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Many of those election deniers ultimately lost their elections. But while some Democratic candidates did focus on the message of democracy, it was largely overshadowed by voter turnout on abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturn. Roo.
“In ’22, I think everyone was thinking, ‘What the hell happened?’” said Brian Lemek, executive director of Defend the Vote, a group that favors what it considers pro-democracy candidates, including Stelson. “It just had to start for people, and we had to really understand and appreciate the real threat here.”
Perry won reelection in that midterm election by about 8 points, even though Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro won the district that year. Democrats are optimistic that Stelson, a former TV host who came in with a more established name than a typical first-time candidate, can keep Perry from a seventh term. She proved to be a strong fundraiser, raising more money than the incumbent. In a sign of Republican Party concern, national Republicans have come to Perry’s aid, dropping millions in ads during the race. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Majority Whip Tom Emmer came to the district in recent days to support Perry, following a visit to Speaker Mike Johnson’s district.
If Stelson wins, it won’t be solely due to what happened after the 2020 election. And other candidates are taking the same approach.
In Wisconsin’s Third District, which Trump won in 2020, Democrat Rebecca Cooke wants to unseat Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who attended the Jan. 6 rally but never entered the Capitol that day. She, too, has said this is not the only focus of her campaign, as voters continually express concerns about being able to afford necessities such as groceries.
Democrat Lucas Kunce, who is running against Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), has occasionally said that the sitting president will raise his fist that day to encourage protesters, but he has also said that January 6 is “just a piece of the puzzle.”
Even at the presidential level, Harris balances her message about democracy. Some Democrats expressed concern that she should spend the latter part of her campaign boosting her biography rather than just hitting Trump.
During her meeting at the Ellipse last week, she mentioned the word ‘democracy’ only once.
Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.
