(The Center Square) – A pair of Democrats running for battleground seats in Congress touted their pro-union bonafides at the annual Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters Convention earlier this week.
“I will fight for the right to organize and stop union busting practices,” Janelle Stelson said to applause. “I’m going to be supporting prevailing wages. I’m going to be advocating to expand project labor agreements on the federal level, and I will reinforce good apprenticeship programs as we train, not only for current jobs, but for the jobs of the future as well.”
Stelson, a former television anchor in southcentral Pennsylvania, is running for the Democratic Party nomination for the state’s 10th Congressional District. She’s going up against Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas in the primary to determine who will face U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a seventh-term congressman and former chair of the conservative Freedom Caucus.
Farther east, Bob Brooks, a firefighters’ union leader, is one of four Democrats running to challenge freshman U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-7th District, for a Lehigh Valley-based congressional seat.
“They’re tired of people claiming to be union people, claiming to be labor guys and gals,” Brooks said. “There’s a difference between being a labor guy and being a laborer.”
“You are looking at the opportunity to send a state union leader, a lifetime union member, a laborer, to U.S. Congress, where we can be represented and we can go to work for us,” he said to applause. “That’s my plan.”
Brooks and Stelson received the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters at their convention in Hershey earlier this week. Approximately 95,000 working Teamsters are represented by the conference across Pennsylvania. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, of which they are affiliated, represents 1.4 million workers, including a wide range of occupations, from truck drivers and newspaper reporters to police officers and warehouse workers.
Stelson slammed Perry’s record on labor issues during her speech, criticizing the incumbent congressman for voting against the PRO Act, which would protect collective bargaining rights; voting to roll back Davis-Bacon wage protections, and voting against efforts to raise the $7.25 federal minimum wage. She also criticized Perry for opposing legislation that would mandate breaks for employees.
“Scott Perry is not your typical bad politician,” Stelson said. “His record before this year was atrocious, especially on labor issues that involve you.”
Brooks also noted his support for the PRO Act and highlighted his background and family history with organized labor, including his grandfather’s career as a Teamster truck driver. He noted that, in his role as leader of the firefighters’ union, he advocated for legislation to help his members.
If Stelson earns the Democratic Party nomination, it will be her second bid for the seat. In 2024, she lost to Perry by 1.2 points, the closest race he had had since winning a seat in the U.S. House.
For Brooks, this is his first run for Congress.
He said he wasn’t planning on running for the seat, but received a few phone calls of encouragement, including from Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Democrat representing the 17th congressional district in western Pennsylvania.
“I decided I was tired of being kicked in the teeth,” Brooks said, about his decision to run for Congress.
“I was tired of watching the NLRB get decimated,” he said, referring to the National Labor Relations Board.
“I was tired of people showing up at our Labor Day picnics for pictures and not showing up for us when we needed it,” Brooks continued. “So I’m in the game. We’re ready to run.”
Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters President Bill Hamilton lauded both Brooks and Stelson in his endorsements.
“People that are willing to go bat like that and fight, they say the right things, but they mean it,” Hamilton said. “You can tell it manifests itself over their feelings and it’s good to have young, hardworking people going at Congress like this and wanting to represent us in Washington, because Washington is a mess, as we know.”
When discussing Perry, Hamilton said that the GOP congressman “doesn’t do a thing for us,” to his members.
“You’ve heard this for the last 10 years,” he said. “The guy’s a crum.”
Brooks and Stelson also have the support of Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is seeking a second term in November. Mackenzie and Perry have President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
In 2024, the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters endorsed Stelson in her bid for the 10th District and incumbent U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-7th District, over Mackenzie.
While most labor unions formally endorse Democratic candidates for elected office, the Teamsters have a more bipartisan reputation.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters did not endorse a candidate for president in 2024. President Sean O’Brien even delivered an address at the Republican National Convention that same year.
However, the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket, despite survey data suggesting that 60% of Pennsylvania members favored Trump.
Brooks and Stelson were not the only congressional hopefuls to address the convention.
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Rob Bresnahan, both Republicans, spoke at the conference. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat running for the 8th Congressional District, also delivered an address.
The races for the 7th and 10th Congressional Districts are being closely watched.
The Cook Political Report, a national ratings outlet, describes both races as “toss ups.”
