Speaker Mike Johnson campaigns for U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in PA visit

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson made a stop in Mechanicsburg on Friday to campaign for Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, the former chair of the House Freedom Caucus who is facing a competitive challenge from Democrat Janelle Stelson in this year’s 10th Congressional District election. 

Johnson, who is actively campaigning across Pennsylvania ahead of next month’s congressional elections, appeared with Perry at a fundraiser Friday morning and spoke with members of the press about Perry’s reelection campaign and the importance of expanding the GOP’s U.S. House majority in next month’s elections. 

“We desperately need his leadership,” Johnson said of Perry. “I had two appointments that I was able to make when I became Speaker of the House to arguably one of the most important committees – maybe the most important committee in Congress right now – and that is the House Select Intelligence Committee. I had two open positions. I gave the first one to Scott Perry, because he's that important to us, because he has the level of expertise and insight that's necessary in a dangerous moment. We all recognize we're probably facing the most dangerous moment since World War II in our nation's history, and we need steady hands at the wheel.”

He added of Perry: “This is an individual who comes to work every day, rolls up to sleep and gets the job done, and that's why it is so, so important for us to have him return to Congress, and I'm convinced he will.” Johnson told reporters that he’s confident that former President Donald Trump will win both Pennsylvania and the presidency, and expressed optimism that Republicans will win control of the Senate.

“I'm convinced that we're going to grow the House majority. When we do that, we have to fix everything. It will be one of the most consequential presidential terms and Congresses in the history of the country, because everything is a disaster right now,” he added. 

Johnson’s visit comes the same week as the release of a new Susquehanna Polling & Research survey that showed Perry trailing Stelson by 9 points in the 10th Congressional District, which covers all of Dauphin County and portions of Cumberland and York counties. The poll, which surveyed 300 likely voters, has 48% of voters supporting Stelson, 39% supporting Perry and 11% undecided.

Perry and Johnson shrugged off the poll’s findings during their media availability with reporters on Friday. “These polls at this time are meant to drive opinion, not reflect opinion,” Perry said. “The poll that the speaker and I are most interested in is going to happen next month. That's what we're focused on, and we're going to win that one.”

Johnson was similarly dismissive of polling showing Stelson in the lead, adding that “we don't put an ounce of stock” in the polling data. “The reason that his favorabilities have come down is because they are carpet bombing him with negative ads, trying to assault the character of a man who served his country valiantly for over 40 years, in the military and in Congress.”

“I think the people are going to see through that nonsense. I think they're going to look at record, not rhetoric. They're going to look at the policies, not the personalities here, and Scott Perry is going to continue to represent the 10th District of Pennsylvania with dignity and honor and distinction,” Johnson added.

Perry and Stelson met for their first and only televised debate of the 2024 election cycle earlier this week, where the two outlined their positions on economic issues, abortion rights and border security, among other issues. 

Perry has faced criticism for contesting Pennsylvania’s electoral votes following the 2020 presidential election, as well as for his alleged efforts to install an acting attorney general sympathetic to then-President Trump’s debunked claims of widespread voter fraud in the aftermath of the 2020 election. 

Investigations by Senate and House panels probing the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol both singled out Perry for his actions following the 2020 presidential election, though Johnson on Friday ripped the House select committee’s investigation, calling it partisan and a “bogus exercise.”

Johnson has made multiple stops in Pennsylvania this week to stump for Republican congressional candidates. He visited the Lehigh Valley on Thursday to boost Republican candidate Ryan Mackenzie, who is looking to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild in the state’s 7th Congressional District, and he also stopped in Lancaster County on Thursday night, making an appearance with U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker. Johnson also visited several Pennsylvania congressional districts earlier this year.