Karen Dalton
Karen Dalton (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District. She declared candidacy for the general election scheduled on November 3, 2026.[source]
Dalton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Karen Dalton earned a high school diploma from James Caldwell High School, a bachelor's degree from Montclair State College in 1981, a graduate degree from New York University in 1983, and a law degree from the Dickinson School of Law in 1993. Dalton's career experience includes working as a lawyer.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 10
The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 10 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Scott Perry (R) | |
| Jason Cass (D) | ||
 | Justin Douglas (D)  | |
| William Lillich (D) | ||
| Michael Robinson (D) | ||
 | Janelle Stelson (D) | |
 | Karen Dalton (R) | |
| Josh Hall (R) | ||
 | Isabelle Harman (Independent) | |
| ||||
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Endorsements
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Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Karen Dalton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dalton's responses.
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Scott Perry either watches silently or cheers on the person who set the wildfire - - Donald Trump. Mr. Perry said at his telephone town halls - - he won't meet with us in person - - that he wishes "DOGE would go further," and the executive "can cut whatever they want." Mr. Perry was the deciding vote for the Big, Brutal Betrayal of the American Dream Act. In fact, he voted for it not once, but twice. It will make hungry people hungrier, sick people sicker, close the door to higher education for those who can't afford to simply write a check. I am running to give voters a choice and to propose new ideas. We need to restore and rebuild our country.
I have lived in the mid-state for 35 years. I am a lawyer. I spent over 25 years working as a staff attorney at the capitol in Harrisburg, over 20 as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. I wrote and helped to pass legislation aimed at helping victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.- The power to change things lies in our hands. It lies in our ballots. It lies in our determination. It lies in our hearts. We have the power to remove Scott Perry from Congress. We have the power to chose someone else to represent us. We can do it as early as May 2026. It's not that far away. Together, we rebuild. As my faith teaches me, when the Temple is destroyed, you go to work rebuilding the Temple. I'm Karen Dalton, an independent Republican, a Republican with a heart, a Republican you can trust. I ask my neighbors to consider voting for me in the primary. If I have the voters' permission to serve, I will only serve three terms and will hold regular, in-person town halls. If I lose, I will concede.
- I wonder if Scott Perry realizes the tariffs he champions - - he said at one of his telephone town halls that we need a level playing field in terms of trade - -is really a tax on the American people. The average family will have to spend thousands more a year on everyday items and food. Because of the tariffs, some companies, including a major auto manufacturer, have cut jobs. Since April, no less than 42,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost. For the first time since COVID, our economy actually contracted in the first quarter of 2025. Many economists say we are heading for a recession or worse, stagflation, a combination of high prices and high unemployment. Scott Perry does nothing to help us. Does Scott Perry not care? I care.
- I believe in meeting voters face-to-face. I will formally announce my candidacy on October 16, 10:00am at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg. If you can't join me, please go to my website, votekd4c.com. You can always send me an email through the website. I will read it and answer as soon as I can, votekd4c.com. I will knock on as many doors as I can. I intend to go to every house, whether you're a Republican, Independent, or Democrat. We're all in this American experiment together, after all. I will hold my first in-person town hall as a candidate in November. Please go to my website, votekd4c.com, for details. In addition, I have a Voters' Bill of Rights on my website. I will follow this ethical blueprint.
My faith teaches that real leaders are servants of the people. That's why I like the story of Miriam and the Well in the Bible so much. Here's the story in a nutshell: After the Jewish people were freed from bondage in Egypt, they wandered in the desert for many years. All of that time, the Lord provided water, through Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. While Miriam was alive, water followed her. When she died, the water dried up. For the first time, the Jewish people had to rely upon themselves to find water. And so they dug a well. The most important part to me is who actually did the digging. Did the people do the digging or did the leaders of the community do the digging? The Bible states that, with their rods and their scepters, they built the well. One translation even uses the word, "princes," to make it clear that the leaders built the well. Then the leaders worked to bring water to each and every tent. No one was left out.
Another core responsibility is to be accountable to votes. There is a covenant between the people of the 10th Congressional District and their member of Congress. Mr. Perry does not understand that. The covenant means that the representative listens, shows up when things go wrong, and does their utmost to help. I understand that covenant.
As a staff attorney with the Republican Caucus in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, I saw principled, Republican leadership on a daily basis. I spent over 20 years as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. I worked to draft and help pass legislation aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence and sexual offenses, especially offenses committed against children.
Seeing how the Republicans in the state House, including leadership, chairs of the Judiciary Committee, and Republican members, made such a difference in the lives of victims, I believe it is part of government's job to help people heal. The leaders I worked for found a way to fund shelters for victims of domestic violence and their children, to open additional childrens advocacy center to help child victims of sexual assault, and to enact legislation to allow a victim of rape to require the rapist to take a HIV/AIDS test.
The second idea will make college affordable for every person who can do college-level work. I believe income should not determine who goes to college and who does not. My proposal is the exact opposite of that found in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which works to close the doors of college for those who need to borrow federal loans. My plan is called "Serve America Scholarships." The idea is to pay for college, community college, graduate school, or professional school. The government will pay for your education, just commit to working for the first ten years in the public service. For example, you want to be a nurse or a doctor, great. Just work at the VA hospital. You want to study music, great. Just work as a music therapist in a nursing home. The list can go on and on.
In 1964, a short time after his brother, President Kennedy was killed, he gave a speech in which he said, "The question is always whether we will act. Whether we teach the children and heal the sick, help the weak, and venerate the old." I could not agree more.
The House was designed by our founders to be more responsive to the people. At the time of our founding, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Now, we have direct election. But the House, in its design, was to be closer to the needs and aspirations of the people.
What worries me now is that Congress has abdicated its responsibilities under the U.S. Constitution. They have have made themselves powerless under the Constitution.
A case in point is the power to set tariffs. Under the Constitution, only Congress can set tariffs. The president has no authority to set tariffs unless Congress delegates that authority.
Since April 2, President Trump has relied upon the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as his authority to set tariffs. Under that statute, Congress can declare an emergency is over and take back its power. The Republicans in Congress, including Scott Perry, won't do that. Scott Perry and the other Republicans in Congress would rather see people hurt than stand up to Donald Trump. And we are suffering because of their timidity.
Now that Donald Trump is imposing another round of tariffs under a different statute, one based upon national security, Congress won't be able to so easily take back its power. The next round of tariffs include 100% on medicine. Who can afford that? Donald Trump just announced that, as of November 1, he wants to impose another 100% tariff on China.
I do have prior experience in government. I served over 25 years as a staff attorney for the Republican Caucus in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. For over 20 of those years, I served as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee.
I drafted and helped to enact legislation aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence and sexual violence, especially children.
I was lead counsel on a number of laws enacted by the General Assembly, including:
(1) Pennsylvania's mandatory sex offender treatment act;
(2) Pennsylvania's child witness statute, which allows child victims of sexual violence to testify in court outside the presence of the accused;
(3) Act 28 of 2014, establishing a dedicated funding stream for Pennsylvania's children's advocacy centers (a one-stop shop if you will for child victims of sexual violence);
(4) the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), an update to Pennsylvania's Megan's Law; and
(5) an amendment to the Adoption Act to permit the mother of a child conceived as a result of rape or incest to more easily terminate the parental rights of the rapist.
When I worked in the Pennsylvania House, I was able to watch principled, Republican leadership on a daily basis. The Republicans in the state House funded shelters for victims of domestic violence, found a way to pay for children's advocacy centers so that additional ones could be created, and also passed a number of victim-centered pieces of legislation, including a bill to allow a victim of rape to have the offender tested for HIV/AIDS.
We're also in danger of losing the moral and legal foundation of our nation: adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law. And the threat is coming from within.
I have never seen politicians act like Donald Trump and Scott Perry act.
We have never before seen a president take a flame thrower to the economy. No other president has deliberately driven up unemployment. No other president has deliberately taken away health care. No other president has deliberately driven up the price of groceries. No other president has so cavalierly steered us toward a recession. Some economists have said we are heading for stagflation, a dangerous combination of high unemployment and high prices unseen since the presidency of Jimmy Carter.
You know who is not helping to correct any of this? Scott Perry. At his April 2 telephone town hall - - again, he won't meet voters eye-to-eye or face-to-face - - he said he was in favor of the tariffs and the cuts to our federal workforce by Elon Musk and DOGE. The 10th Congressional District is home to more federal workers than any other congressional district in Pennsylvania. Taking a job away for no reason not only hurts the breadwinner, it hurts the family. It takes away health insurance. It also deprives us, the American people, of the workers we rely upon to keep our food, medicine, infant formula, and pet food safe. Does Scott Perry not care?
The cuts by DOGE have hurt our veterans, seniors, farmers, teachers, school children. All of us.
Jim is as honest as the day is bright and the night is long. As a member of Congress, he took no money from special interests or PACs.
If the Republicans in Congress - - at this very minute - - were willing to compromise with Democrats, the government would be re-opened. The shutdown is an example of what happens when the party in power, the Republicans, won't compromise. They won't even talk to the Democrats. The Republican leadership in Congress has said there is nothing to talk about.
As a consequence, additional layoffs of the federal work force have started. These firings are illegal and immoral. They are also unprecedented. Typically, furloughs occur and some workers have to report to work, despite not getting paid. But there is nothing in the law that allows a president to summarily fire federal workers because he is unhappy that he can't get his way.
And Scott Perry says nothing about the firings. Silence in the face of more suffering. Doesn't Scott Perry know that the 10th Congressional District is home to more federal workers than any other district? Doesn't he know that when government adds to the pain of people's lives, something is desperately wrong?
It is quite possible that if Congress did not enact the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, we would not be facing a shutdown right now. The fight is over health care benefits. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act should be called the Big, Brutal Betrayal of the American Dream Act. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it will throw 15 million people off of their health insurance, and not just under Medicaid, but also under the Affordable Care Act.
What if you're not at the top? The tax cuts will be minuscule. The top tax cut for an individual is expected to be about $64,000 per year. But the per capita income of the people in the 10th Congressional District is about $43,000. How is that fair? That the top tax refund per year is higher than the per capita income per year of the people of the 10th? Yet Scott Perry voted for this legislation not once but twice.
Those at the bottom of the ladder, making under $27,000, will see a tax cut of under $2 a week. How does that buy gas or groceries? The people making over $27,000 but under $53,000 will see about $14 a week. In Donald Trump's and Scott Perry's economy, what does that really buy? The people in the middle, making between $53,000 and $92,000 will see a tax cut of about $1,600 a year, or $30 a week. That's not enough to fill your gas tank or take your family out for a nice dinner.
I believe we need a tax structure that will give families more buying power. We can us the tax code to provide families more money. If you go to my website, votekd4c.com, you will see my tax proposals set forth in detail. I want to cut the deficit responsibly, while still providing a way for families to keep more of their money.
Children's advocacy centers are a one-stop shop, if you will, for sexually abused children. Rape victims need peace of mind that, on top of everything else, they have not contracted AIDS.
A big issue is that of data centers. There is one proposed five miles from my home, in Middlesex. There is another that is proposed in York. There may be others on the way, given the fact that these projects are being pushed by Governor Shapiro and Senator McCormick and other leaders.
There is a mis-perception that our votes are not secure. They are. That includes mail-in voting. Congressman Perry, who is on record as trying to throw out the votes of 6.7 million Pennsylvanians in the presidential election of 2020, even those who voted for Donald Trump, is trying to sow seeds of doubt about mail-in voting. Here are the facts:
Pennsylvania has had some type of mail-in voting since the 1960s. When the General Assembly enacted mail-in voting in 2019, it was done on a bi-partisan basis. The majority leaders at the time, a Republican, said that mail-in voting would preserve the integrity of every election and lift the voice of every voter. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld mail-in voting.
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Campaign finance summary
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See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 11, 2025
