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Midstate Democrats were bitterly disappointed in 2018 and 2020 after throwing moderates from election central casting up against incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in a Pennsylvania House district that had been redrawn to be much more politically competitive, only to see the lightning rod incumbent send them to costly defeats.

Democratic Party voters opted for a new approach Tuesday, granting their 10th District nomination to Harrisburg attorney and city council member Shamaine Daniels, a woman and a person of color who is less concerned about reaching the voters that are already committed to Perry or committed to his defeat than she is about reaching pools of voters who havent shown up before.

On the day after her primary win over retired Army officer Rick Coplen, Daniels was realistic about the task ahead.

Its not an unwinnable race. It is a difficult race to win, the 43-year-old Venezuelan immigrant and mother of one told PennLive Wednesday.

Daniels said she hopes to build a winning game plan by attracting support from a broad coalition of supporters - including out-of-district donors motivated by a desire to defeat Perry, the chairman of the arch-conservative House Freedom Caucus - and, most importantly, making sure the voters who dont often think about politics as something for them understand theres someone who wants to work on their issues who needs their support.

If you only rely on those people who are already voting, its a losing race, Daniels explained of the Democrats position in this race. If you can bring out the people who have never voted before, its a winning race.

Daniels, much like progressive Democratic primary candidate Tom Brier two years ago, believes she is has the street credentials to get that done, especially in the districts urban centers like Harrisburg and York where low voter turnout has become a condition.

After arriving in the U.S. with her family 30 years ago, Daniels graduated from high school in Philadelphia, and then earned her bachelors degree from West Chester University. She went on to gain her law degree from the University of Cincinnati.

She made her mark as a young lawyer as part of the team that litigated against the so-called illegal immigration relief act passed in Hazleton with the full-throated support of then-Mayor Lou Barletta. The ordinance was ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court judge in 2007.

Daniels by then had relocated to Harrisburg. where she specialized in immigration and employment law and became active in Democratic politics. After an unsuccessful bid for Dauphin County Clerk of Courts in 2011, she won election to Harrisburgs City Council in 2013, and is now just starting her third term in that office.

On council, she said she takes satisfaction in the completion of zoning changes that Daniels says have lowered barriers for small businesses to open and operate in the city, helping to stimulate the local economy and build an entrepreneur class within its residents, as well as steps to promote development of affordable housing, and the reduction of penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Perry is seeking a 6th term in Congress from what - just based on past voter performance alone - shapes up as one of Pennsylvanias more competitive districts.

His campaign released a statement after his primary win Tuesday night that suggests hes ready for the fight, in which he sees himself as a key player in the fight to flip majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives back to the Republican Party..

Im honored once again to have earned the overwhelming support of Republicans throughout the District, Perry said.

For voters of the 10th District, theres never been a clearer choice: continue to surrender your hard-earned freedom and dollars to the party led by a failing and feckless President and his enablers like Speaker Pelosi, or reclaim your independence and reject bigger government, record inflation, skyrocketing costs of living, and our National security.

Our neighbors know what I believe. My opponent, Shamaine Daniels, has been an apologist for failure and a promoter of the Biden-Pelosi failed, dangerous, and radical agenda thats destroying our nation day by day. I look forward to a vigorous debate, and Im confident that the voters of the 10th Congressional District will once again choose a brighter, stronger America that encourages the re-growth of strength and prosperity we once knew.

One thing that will be different for Perry is that this is the first time he will have faced voters since being identified as one of the key Congressional allies in former President Donald J. Trumps attempts to cling to power after his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Perry is currently facing subpoenas from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol by angry Trump supporters for his role in the proposed installation of a new Attorney General who was sympathetic to Trumps unfounded claims of voter fraud.

Daniels knows that is a potential moment of reckoning for Perry, and she hopes to build a bridge that Perry supporters who are uncomfortable with his work on the election will cross over this year. She also hopes that Perrys notoriety will draw outside donors to her quest to raise somewhere between $2 and $3 million for the fall campaign.

Daniels has said she is driven by the goal of providing residents what she believes is better representation than they are getting from Perry, whom she feels has tended in recent years to pit his supporters against his opponents.

Hes made his career getting support by scaring people, said Daniels, I think this is an opportunity to show the district what it is that Perry has been telling them they need to be afraid of.

But citing the experiences of 2018 and 2020, she also believes that many of Perrys supporters are dug in for their guy, she said she believes the race ahead cant be solely a referendum on the incumbent. Daniels said the onus will be on her to prove herself as a good alternative.

To beat Scott Perry, we have to have high voter turnout, and for voters to turn out they need to know why they should vote for me, Daniels said.

To that end, she said she is motivated by a desire to advocate for issues like comprehensive immigration reform, which she notes will help not only Americas newest residents, but also the employers that badly need their contributions, and preserving womens reproductive rights.

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With one battle won, Shamaine Daniels is getting ready for the campaign ahead - PennLive