John Fetterman
John Karl Fetterman (born August 15, 1969) is an American politician who is the United States Senator from Pennsylvania since 2023. He was the 34th Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania from 2019 to 2023. He was the Mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania from 2006 to 2019.
John Fetterman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from Pennsylvania | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 Serving with Bob Casey Jr. | |
| Preceded by | Pat Toomey |
| 34th Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania | |
| In office January 15, 2019 – January 3, 2023 | |
| Governor | Tom Wolf |
| Preceded by | Mike Stack |
| Succeeded by | Austin Davis |
| Mayor of Braddock | |
| In office January 2, 2006 – January 8, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Pauline Abdullah[1] |
| Succeeded by | Chardaé Jones |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Karl Fetterman August 15, 1969 West Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Albright College (BA) University of Connecticut (MBA) Harvard University (MPP) |
| Website | Campaign website Mayoral website |
Fetterman was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in the 2022 election. He defeated Republican television personality Mehmet Oz in the November general election.
Personal life
Fetterman was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Albright College, the University of Connecticut and Harvard University. In 2008, he married Gisele Barreto Fetterman. They have three children.
In June 2022, Fetterman announced he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.[2]
Early career
He won the Braddock mayoral primary election in 2005 by a single vote, and was re-elected in 2009, 2013, and 2017.
As mayor, Fetterman became known for trying to modernize the economy in Braddock, with an article in The New York Times, an appearance on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, and a Levi's jeans ad. He has made equality, environmental protection, gay rights, immigration, and marijuana legalization major campaign issues.
Fetterman ran for the United States Senate in 2016, but was lost in the Democratic primary. Fetterman was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania in the 2018 election against Republican Jeff Bartos.[3] He won the general election in November 2018 along with Tom Wolf as Governor.
Fetterman supported Senator Bernie Sanders for President of the United States in the 2016 presidential election.[4]
Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
On November 14, 2017, Fetterman announced that he would run for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, running against then-Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack.[5] On May 15, Fetterman won the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor.[6] Fetterman was a part of the Democratic ticket along with incumbent Governor Tom Wolf. On November 6, 2018, Wolf and Fetterman beat the Republican ticket of Scott Wagner and Jeff Bartos in the general election.[7][8]
During his time as Lieutenant Governor, he is known for his statewide tours talking about the benefits of legalizing marijuana.[9]
In November 2020, Fetterman received national press coverage for saying Donald Trump was "no different than any other random internet troll"[10] and that he "can sue a ham sandwich" in response to Trump threatening to file lawsuits in Pennsylvania alleging voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.[11]
Fetterman resigned as lieutenant governor on January 3, 2023 in order to be sworn-in for the United States Senate.[12]
U.S. Senate
2022 Senate campaign
Fetterman announced an exploratory committee to run for the United States Senate in the 2022 election in January.[13][14] On February 8, 2021, he officially entered the U.S. Senate race.[15]
In May 2022, Fetterman was hospitalized for a stroke in Lancaster, Pennsylvania a few days before the Senate primary and made a good recovery.[16][17] He won the Democratic nomination in a landslide victory, winning over 59% of the vote and all of Pennsylvania's 67 counties.[18][19]
In November 2022, Fetterman defeated Mehmet Oz in the general election.
Tenure
Fetterman was sworn-in on January 3, 2023 as Pennsylvania's junior United States Senator.[12] In February 2023, Fetterman was hospitalized twice, with the last hospitalization treating his clinical depression.[20]
References
Other websites
- Government website Archived 2022-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
- Campaign website Archived 2015-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
- Profile of Fetterman and Braddock, PA on the show NOW on PBS
- Braddock Redux
- Appearances on C-SPAN