HARRISBURG, Pa. — With less than two months until Election Day, Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District Janelle Stelson is looking to heat things up on the campaign trail.
"I'm someone who is going to work as an American to solve our problems," said Stelson.
Stelson came to Harrisburg on Saturday to launch her canvass campaign. Volunteers in attendance got a chance to meet the Democratic candidate, as they look forward to helping her beat Republican Congressman Scott Perry.
“I am knocking on doors and talking to everyone I know that we need to get Janelle Stelson to Washington D.C.," said Carol Yanity, who is a volunteer from Cumberland County.
Governor Josh Shapiro also joined alongside Stelson during the campaign event. He made an appeal to voters from both parties to give Stelson their support over the 12-year incumbent Perry.
“Janelle is someone you can trust. Janelle is someone we can count on. Janelle is someone who will lift up this district," said Gov. Shapiro.
Stelson has been ramping up her campaign over the past few weeks, releasing an ad painting Congressman Perry as an anti-abortion extremist for his support of House Bill 431.
"[Abortion] is one of those issues where it doesn't matter if you have a 'D,' an 'R,' or an 'I' on your forehead, this matters to all of us," said Stelson. "This is about bodily autonomy and for me to be in control of my own body."
Another recent ad criticizes the congressman as a career politician who hasn't addressed the key issues facing people in the 10th Congressional District.
"These economic issues that pinch Pennsylvanians every day, Scott Perry’s had a long time to work on that," added Stelson. "And what has he done? I would submit, bupkis.”
FOX43 News reached out to Congressman Perry and his campaign for comment about Stelson's recent ads.
A spokesperson for the Perry campaign issued the following statement on his abortion stance:
“There’s one extreme candidate in this race when it comes to the abortion issue: Janelle Stelson. Stelson wants taxpayer-funded abortion – including up to the moment of birth. Maybe these are the values of the area Stelson calls home, but they don’t remotely represent the values of the 10th congressional district. Scott Perry has made clear his entire career that he is pro-life, and makes exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, and not only has he been a staunch advocate for the accessibility of IVF treatments, but he has introduced legislation protecting it – to help families struggling to build a family.”
The campaign added on by stating:
“To call Congressman Perry a career politician is laughable. While Janelle Stelson complains about politicians profiting off their positions, Scott Perry is doing something about it by cosponsoring bipartisan legislation with Democrat Abigail Spanberger to ban members of Congress from insider trading stocks. And that’s the difference between Scott Perry and Janelle Stelson – she complains, Scott Perry acts on behalf of the people of south-central Pennsylvania.”
Stelson is promising to tackle voter’s most important issues, after spending her career reporting them as a journalist.
“I realized I needed to go from the public service of telling people about our issues and shining a bright light on them to getting to Washington, raising my right hand, and trying to do something about our issues," she said.