LEMOYNE, Pa. – Janelle Stelson, the Democrat challenging Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry for a second time, denied Thursday that her campaign had employed an undocumented immigrant who recently pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge.

“We don’t know this individual. Everybody hired goes through me, so I would know,” Stelson said at a news conference focused on Social Security. “He’s not an employee. He’s not a volunteer.”

“We became aware of it when the police let us know,” she added.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a Wednesday news release that Chimaobim Adedayo Igbojekwe, an undocumented immigrant from Nigeria, had been arrested by local police on Sept. 27 for “indecent exposure and disorderly conduct” before pleading guilty to the latter charge. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Igbojekwe on Oct. 1, according to DHS. 

The release said Igbojekwe “was working as a canvasser for congressional candidate Janelle Stelson,” linking to a Shore News Network story that cited conservative activist Scott Pressler. 

Stelson’s campaign manager, Alma Baker, said in a statement Wednesday that the individual in question had never been employed by the campaign. A review of Stelson’s federal fundraising reports, including a third-quarter report uploaded Wednesday night, did not show Igbojekwe’s name among salaried staffers. 

“If he is an illegal immigrant who committed a crime he should be deported. We never heard of him prior to the news of his arrest. We are grateful to law enforcement for acting swiftly to arrest him,” Baker said. 

Asked Thursday about a federal agency involving itself in a local election, Stelson said it was “kind of sad.”

“I know that I pay attention to what people here are talking to me about every day, and it certainly isn’t anything about that,” she told reporters. “We do not know this person. I have never met him.”

A former TV news anchor, Stelson is once again challenging Perry, a onetime House Freedom Caucus chair who defeated her by 5,000 votes in 2024. Both parties are fiercely contesting Pennsylvania’s 10th District, anchored in Harrisburg, which President Donald Trump carried by 5 points two years ago. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race a Toss-up. 

Stelson’s latest filing showed she raised $2.3 million in the third quarter and ended September with $2.5 million on hand. Perry has not yet filed his third-quarter report, which covers the period from July to September and is due next week to the Federal Election Commission.

Outside groups on both sides have poured resources into the district. Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC with ties to Speaker Mike Johnson, has spent $2 million through Oct. 7. No Going Back PAC, which is linked to Trump’s MAGA Inc., had spent $783,000, while the Freedom Caucus Fund had spent $780,000. Meanwhile, House Majority PAC, a top Democratic super PAC, had spent $766,000 through Oct. 7 on Stelson’s behalf. 

Johnson visited the district earlier this week as part of a swing through Pennsylvania, where Republicans are defending four battleground House seats in next month’s midterm elections. Inside Elections rates the races for the 7th and 8th districts as Toss-ups, while the 1st District in Bucks County is rated Lean Republican. 

“Pennsylvnaia’s a critical state,” Johnson said. “The House is going to be a very close margin in this election, a midterm usually is. … I’m very bullish on the outcome of this.”

Perry and Stelson are set to meet next week in a debate hosted by ABC27, which the network said would be their only public face-off before Election Day.