Janelle Stelson’s time as TV news anchor provides an early boost in her run for Congress

Three decades on local television can be an excellent asset when seeking public office, Janelle Stelson learned last week as a campaign poll showed her with a significant early lead in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District.

Stelson, who left her news anchor job at NBC affiliate WGAL in Lancaster last month and entered the race Oct. 4, holds a 13-point lead — 33% to 20% — over her closest primary competitor, Harrisburg city council member Shamaine Daniels.

Daniels lost her 2022 bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a Republican now seeking a seventh term.

A Public Policy Polling survey of 547 likely Democratic voters, conducted during two days last week, found that 38% are still undecided in the crowded primary. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 4.2%.

Mike O’Brien, a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who announced his run last month, and Rick Coplen, who lost the 2022 primary to Daniels, were at 3% in the poll, along with Blake Lynch, who left a management post at a Harrisburg public radio station WITF last week and is reported to be close to entering the primary.

John Broadhurst, an international business consultant who entered the primary last week, was not mentioned in the poll.

Perry, a hard-right conservative who tried to challenge all of Pennsylvania’s presidential votes in 2020, is seen as a key Democratic target in a swing district next year. The 10th District includes Dauphin County and parts of Cumberland and York Counties

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