Greens unleash $1M ad blitz on ex-Freedom Caucus Chair Perry

By Kelsey Brugger | 10/02/2024 04:19 PM EDT

The first of many ads hits Rep. Scott Perry for his vote against a toxic burn pit bill.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.).

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) at the Capitol in January. Democrats are hoping to flip his seat. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Environmental advocates are joining forces with left-leaning groups in the first of many attack ads against Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry, a hard-line conservative who has doubted human contributions to climate change.

The new $1.1 million campaign from EDF Action, Defend the Vote and DemocracyFirst, announced Wednesday, features an Army veteran whom Perry served with.

“It’s a shame what Scott Perry’s become,” says the veteran, Ken Fletcher, in the ad.

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The ad accuses Perry, the former chair of the House Freedom Caucus of “supporting QAnon conspiracies.”

Perry in 2020 voted against a resolution condemning the conspiracy theory that falsely accuses Democrats of engaging in child sex trafficking. The ad similarly hits him for his alleged role in the Jan. 6 riots.

The ad also notes that he voted against the bipartisan PACT Act, an expansion of health care benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits.

In the race for Pennsylvania’s 10th District, Democrats are running former TV news anchor Janelle Stelson, one of the few Democratic candidates who has not endorsed Kamala Harris for president. Still, the party has poured big money in.

They emphasize Perry’s arch-conservative voting record — he’s only ever supported two measures that greens deemed pro-environment — and contend the race has only gotten closer in recent weeks. More groups are expected to get involved.

“He’s so extreme and so out of touch,” said EDF Action’s Jack Pratt, who said there will be more ads to come. “We think there’s a real shot with Janelle Stelson. We’ll continue to invest in the district.”

Republicans say they are not worried. GOP operatives note she does not live in the district. She lives a few miles away in Lancaster County.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has not yet spent in this race. A spokesperson said they “continue to monitor” it and pointed out that in 2022 Perry won the race by nearly 8 percentage points “when there were clear top-of-ticket issues for Republicans.”

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro won the 10th District that year by nearly 12 percentage points against Republican Doug Mastriano.

For his part, Perry told POLITICO’s E&E News in recent weeks that the race was going “great.” He pushed back on Democrats’ allegations that he has failed to support infrastructure funding for constituents. He pointed to a letter he signed in support of the I-83 bridge, which ultimately got a half-billion dollars from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law — legislation he voted against.

In an interview over the summer, Stelson charged Perry was a climate “denier.” Perry’s campaign declined to make him available for an interview but in a statement said his views are not out of line with his constituents.

“The bulk of these bills are Green New Deal provisions — that my constituents can’t afford and do not want,” he said. “I hear it everywhere I go.”

Other backers credited Perry, a retired Army National Guard brigadier general and business owner, for his excellent constituent services.

This $1.1 million buy from EDF Action and others supplement outside spending that’s already been generous: $830,000 from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and $2.4 million from the House Majority PAC. For Perry, political action committees like the House Freedom Fund, Win It Back and others have spent close to $500,000.

Stelson also has a cash advantage as Perry has spent hundreds of thousands in legal fees after the FBI seized his cellphone records to probe his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot, the York Dispatch reported earlier this year.