Central Pa. news anchor Janelle Stelson is running for Congress in Democratic primary to challenge U.S. Rep. Scott Perry

Janelle Stelson, a central Pennsylvania news anchor for three decades, on Wednesday said she would run in the 2024 Democratic primary to challenge U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a hard-right conservative with strong ties to former President Donald Trump.

Stelson leaned hard into her journalism experience, opening an announcement video with her at the anchor desk at NBC affiliate WGAL before pivoting into a critique of Perry’s recent history, including his efforts with Trump to overturn the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania, the FBI seizing his cell phone, and his refusal to cooperate with the House committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Stelson noted that committee said Perry sought a presidential pardon from Trump, which Perry has denied.

“I’ve covered politics for decades, doing the job of my dreams as anchor of the most watched newscast tonight,” Stelson, who left WGAL three weeks ago, said in the video. “But I cannot stand by and watch Congressman Perry continue to sow chaos, preach extremism, and spout conspiracy theories.”

Perry’s campaign quickly linked Stelson’s campaign to President Joe Biden’s attempt to win a second term.

“Ms. Stelson is just one more Democrat auditioning to be Joe Biden’s running mate in the district — supporting failed Bidenomics, dangerous wide open borders, pro-China energy policies, and a radical woke agenda,” his campaign said in an email.

Stelson, 63, and her campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment. She is the fourth candidate to enter the Democratic primary in the 10th District.

Mike O’Brien, a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, announced his run on Sept. 6. Shamaine Daniels, a Harrisburg City Council member who lost to Perry in 2022′s general election, and Rick Coplen, who lost last year’s Democratic primary to Daniels, are also running.

The 10th District, which includes Dauphin County and parts of Cumberland and York Counties, leans Republican. About 44% of the county’s registered voters are Republican, while 39% are Democrats and the rest are independents or members of smaller political parties.

Stelson was registered to vote as a Republican in Lancaster, which is part of the 11th Congressional District, but switched to Democrat on Feb. 1. Members of Congress must be a resident of the state where their district is located but are not required to live in that district.

Her video appealed across the political spectrum, promising Democrats that she would fight for workers’ rights and abortion access, telling Republicans that she would fund federal and local law enforcement, and seeking support of independents “fed up with career politicians.”

Perry, a U.S. Army veteran who retired as a brigadier general in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, is seeking a sixth two-year term in the House and previously served six years as a state representative.

Stelson compared Perry to State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Franklin County Republican who lost the 10th District last year as the GOP nominee for governor while being defeated statewide by nearly 15 points by Josh Shapiro. Mastriano, another Trump ally, also amplified the former president’s lies about the 2020 election.

She also noted that U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Scranton Democrat seeking a fourth term, has prevailed in the district in previous elections.

Stelson is clearly hoping voters take a dim view of Perry’s connections to Trump and his MAGA base — short for “Make America Great Again.”

“Perry is the most extreme MAGA member of Congress who could actually lose,” she said in the video.

The race is expected to draw national attention, with the Republican National Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee getting involved as the GOP holds a slender and fractious majority in the U.S. House.

That was on display Tuesday as Perry and the seven other Republicans in the Pennsylvania congressional delegation voted to keep U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in his post while the state’s nine Democrats voted to oust him. McCarthy lost that bid in a 216-210 vote.

Stelson was born in Alaska and grew up near Seattle, graduating from the University of Puget Sound. She worked at WHTM-TV in Harrisburg before joining WGAL in 1997.