In Pennsylvania’s Senate race, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman leads the pack of Democrats competing to be the party nominee to fill the vacant seat left by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.
An election victory would mark a new milestone in what has been a storied rise through Pennsylvania politics that began in a hollowed-out steel town, where he was older.
He has accrued a considerable lead in the primary polls over Democratic Congressman Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta. If he wins the Democratic nomination, Fetterman will take on the winner of the Republican primary race that includes celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund manager Dave McCormick.
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Who is John Fetterman?
In 2018, Fetterman unseated a Democratic incumbent to become Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor.
The 6 foot 8, tattooed and suit-averse Fetterman looks more like a blue-collar worker than an elected official, but his appearance has served him well politically.
He was narrowly elected mayor of Braddock, a small town near Pittsburgh, in 2005.
Fetterman has been credited with helping spark new life into the steel town of a few thousand residents that reports say had seen its population shrink by 90%.
Major TV and print outlets have profiled Fetterman’s role as Major Braddock through the years. New York Times called him “the greatest of rust’ in 2011.
In 2016, Fetterman hoped to ride his acclaim to Washington, but failed to get past the Democratic primary in his first Senate try.
He remained Braddock’s mayor until he took state office in 2019.
As lieutenant governor, Fetterman has championed legalizing recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania and served as the chair of the state’s pardon board, which Fetterman’s campaign site says “has recommended more applicants for commutations than under any lieutenant governor in decades.”
Over the course of the campaign, Fetterman has been grilled by his opponents over a 2013 incident in Braddock that took place while he was older.
Fetterman wielded a shotgun and confronted a Black jogger after Fetterman said he heard a series of gunfire. The jogger claimed Fetterman pointed the firearm at his chest from him. Fetterman has denied that claim and has said he was unaware of the jogger’s race during the incident because he was wearing a mask.
What is John Fetterman’s policy platform?
Fetterman’s platform includes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 or higher, transitioning to renewable energy “as quickly as possible” to combat climate change and legalizing marijuana nationally.
Many associate him with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party because I have endorsed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sander for president in 2016, and Sanders backed him in his 2018 lieutenant governor run. Fetterman in the past supported a single-payer healthcare system “before it was mainstream,” according to his campaign website.
But he has resisted the “progressive” label, telling NBC News he is “just a Democrat.”
Fetterman is pro-union. I have signaled his support for eliminating the Senate filibuster and said he would vote to codify Roe v. Wade’s abortion protections into law in light of the leaked Supreme Court draft overturning the 1973 ruling.
Who has endorsed John Fetterman?
Several local elected officials, including the current mayor of Braddock, are backing Fetterman. The Pennsylvania Postal Workers Union and a United Steel Workers chapter are among his union supporters of him.
Where did John Fetterman go to school?
Fetterman got an undergraduate degree from Albright College in 1991. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Connecticut and a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Who is John Fetterman’s wife?
Fetterman is married to Giselle Barreto Fetterman, who helped start a food assistance non-profit organization. Barreto Fetterman, a formerly undocumented immigrant from Brazil, is Pennsylvania’s second lady. In 2020she made headlines after an incident in which a woman hurled racist insults at her.
Does John Fetterman have children?
Fetterman has three children with his wife. The family lives inside a converted car dealership in Braddock, according to his campaign site.
www.usatoday.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism