U.S. Rep. Scott Perry gets a congressional challenger with a ‘Top Gun’ resume

Mike O’Brien and his wife, Courtney, saw Harrisburg as a great spot to land their early retirements from the U.S. Marine Corps, for both personal and political reasons.

It puts the couple close to family, in an affordable area with good schools. And it gives Mike O’Brien a chance to run against U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a York County Republican.

O’Brien brings a Top Gun resume that he plans to deploy against Perry’s record as a retired brigadier general in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

A Marine aviator and squadron leader who retired last week as a lieutenant colonel, O’Brien became a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House’s 10th District seat Wednesday and will face at least two opponents in the Democratic primary in May.

Born in Philadelphia and raised in Elkins Park, O’Brien spent 20 years as an aviator and instructor after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Perry, running for a seventh term in Congress, is an ally of former President Donald Trump and chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republicans.

He’s drawn national attention for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including his speech on the House floor hours after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, in which he called for Pennsylvania’s electoral votes to be thrown out.

Republicans have a voter registration edge in the 10th District, which includes Dauphin County and parts of Cumberland and York Counties. About 44% of voters are Republican, while Democrats are at 39%, and the rest are independents or members of smaller political parties.

“I’ve talked to a lot of independents and moderates here in the district,” O’Brien said. “And there is an appetite for his removal.”

O’Brien is leaning hard into his military background and Perry’s actions on Jan. 6.

O’Brien, who voted in Montgomery County by absentee ballot while in the Marines, said Perry’s attempt to void his 2020 vote made things “personal” between the two men.

“I’m getting sick of the monopoly that the far right seems to think they have on the American flag,” O’Brien said. “I’m the only candidate out here that can start moving to reclaim freedom, to reclaim patriotism, and ultimately the American flag in the name of democracy. That’s something I can leverage for national interest. And I plan on doing that.”

O’Brien brings an uncommon pop culture mix of Top Gun and Jersey Shore to his campaign.

He is a graduate of the U.S. Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, which Tom Cruise made famous with a pair of movies titled with the program’s “Top Gun” nickname.

And his aviator call-sign was “Snookie,” after one of the stars of the MTV reality television show Jersey Shore. O’Brien said he spent many summers in the New Jersey town where the show was filmed and was known in the Marines for posting a schedule for the show’s well-known priorities — gym, tanning, and laundry.

A one-minute introduction video for O’Brien’s campaign casts Perry as “un-American” and “an extremist,” points he returned to during an interview while detailing his plans to campaign in the middle of the political spectrum.

“I spent the last 20 years defending democracy overseas. But we need more of that right here at home,” O’Brien said in the video. “Right now, Congressman Scott Perry and his hard-right gang of insurrectionists are a threat to democracy and a threat to our freedoms.”

Other Democrats are also vying to challenge Perry.

Shamaine Daniels, a Harrisburg City Council member who lost to Perry by nearly 8 percentage points in 2022′s general election, has declared her bid for a rematch. She raised about $415,000 for that election, while Perry raised just over $3 million.

Rick Coplen, who lost last year’s Democratic primary to Daniels, has also announced another run.

And Janelle Stelson, a television news anchor at WGAL in Lancaster, is said to be considering a bid in the Democratic primary for the seat.

O’Brien’s wife is also an aviator, U.S Naval academy graduate, and lieutenant colonel. They were the first husband-and-wife team to take command of flight squadrons on the same day in San Diego last year — with him in change of a fighter attack squadron and her running an aerial refueler transport squadron.

Courtney O’Brien, the Naval Academy’s highest all-time basketball team scorer, expects to retire next year, he said. She remains on active duty in San Diego with their 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son.

Courtney O’Brien was born in York County and grew up next door in Adams County. The couple saw Dauphin County as an ideal place for the next phase of their lives. He registered to vote in Dauphin County in April and cast a ballot in May’s primary there.

“We can actually afford a house here,” he said. “It’s absolutely beautiful. The schools are great.”