Scott Perry ‘offends me,’ says Republican running for his seat

A Pennsylvania Republican looking to take Rep. Scott Perry’s (R-Pa.) seat said he is launching his congressional bid because Perry “offends” him.

John Henry Newman, 68, announced Monday he is running for Perry’s seat, Penn Live reported.

Newman criticized Perry on his campaign website for Perry’s claims around the 2020 election and for his role as the House Freedom Caucus chair.

“Quite simply, the behavior of our present representative, Scott Perry, offends me. Most upsetting were his actions after the 2020 election. He tried to erase the votes of his own constituents in the 10th Congressional District and invalidate the choice of all the voters in Pennsylvania,” Newman’s campaign website states.

“He continues to make inaccurate and misleading statements. And, for the past two years, he has been leading an extremist faction in the US House of Representatives. Misleading us is not leadership,” the website continues.

Newman told Penn Live he believes Perry has been “radicalized” and suggested he has moved away from the core values of the Republican Party.

“I know there are a great many Republicans in the area that are uncomfortable and feel that the leadership of the party in the area has left them,” Newman said.

According to his website, Newman has been a longtime educator and scientist in Pennsylvania and in higher education institutions across the nation. He said on his website he hopes to bring “civility and cooperation” back to the House.

In 2022, federal investigators seized Perry’s phone in connection to the Justice Department’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. A federal judge last month allowed prosecutors to access nearly 1,700 text messages sent by Perry leading up to the riot.

Perry also failed to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.

Perry has not yet said whether he will be running for reelection.