Pennsylvania group announces it’s primarying John Fetterman
The Pennsylvania Working Families Party (WFP) has announced plans to challenge Senator john Fetterman (D-PA) in the 2028 primary election,although they have not yet chosen a candidate. Initially supportive of Fetterman during his 2022 Senate race, the WFP now criticizes him as a “Trump-enabling corporate Democrat,” particularly after his vote supporting a GOP-led funding bill that ended the government shutdown. This bill, according to the WFP, would strip healthcare coverage from over 400,000 Pennsylvanians.
Fetterman, one of eight Senate Democrats who broke ranks to help end the shutdown, defended his decisions as putting the country over party interests, emphasizing his support for key social programs like SNAP and military funding. Despite his stance, Fetterman has faced criticism from within his party and has expressed frustration with Democratic “virtue signaling.” He has also shown some bipartisan openness, praising Trump-era strikes in Iran and signaling approval of certain Trump management trade policies.
The WFP seeks “real working class leadership” and plans to hold candidate trainings and organize volunteers to find a primary challenger. Simultaneously occurring, Fetterman, who has been public about his health struggles-including a recent hospitalization due to a heart-related condition-and released a memoir discussing his stroke and depression, is not up for reelection until 2028. However, speculation exists about potential challengers, including former Congressman Connor Lamb. Fetterman’s team has not commented on the WFP’s announcement.
Pennsylvania group announces it’s primarying John Fetterman
The Pennsylvania Working Families Party announced it will be launching a campaign to primary Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) in 2028, though they have not selected a candidate to run against him yet.
Though the WFP initially supported Fetterman in his 2022 Senate race against Mehmet Oz, the party called him a “Trump-enabling corporate Democrat” in their Tuesday announcement. The decision to primary Fetterman comes in the wake of his support for the GOP-led funding bill to end the government shutdown.
“We’re primarying John Fetterman. Last week, Fetterman once again sold out working Pennsylvanians. He was the deciding vote for a Republican budget bill that will strip healthcare from over 400,000 Pennsylvanians,” the group wrote on X.
Without any selected candidate to run against Fetterman, the group is holding “candidate trainings” to find their person, organizing volunteers, and asking for donations.
Fetterman, one of eight Senate Democratic caucus members who broke with their party on Obamacare subsidy demands to vote with Republicans to end the shutdown, has sparred with his own party on occasion this year.
He defended his vote to reopen the government throughout the shutdown, saying, “I’m the guy that’s gonna consistently vote for country over party,” while also voicing his support for extending the Obamacare subsidies after the shutdown.
“2 MILLION Pennsylvanians depend on SNAP to feed their families. For me, it’s hungry Americans over party. Paying our military over party. Paying Capitol Police and federal workers over party. I choose country over party,” Fetterman wrote on X.
In addition to getting criticized by Democrats over his shutdown vote, he has blasted Democrats for “virtue signaling,” called the Trump administration’s strikes in Iran “entirely appropriate,” and has signaled support for President Donald Trump’s moves on trade.
“We deserve real working class leadership in the U.S. Senate, not a Trump-enabling corporate Democrat. Senator Fetterman has turned his back on us, and that’s why the Pennsylvania Working Families Party is committed to recruiting and supporting a primary challenge to him in 2028,” the WFP wrote.
Fetterman, who has been open about his mental and physical health struggles, recently fell due to a ventricular fibrillation flare-up while on a walk in Pennsylvania. The incident came just days after the senator released his memoir Unfettered, in which he opens up about his May 2022 stroke and his battle with depression.
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The senator is not up for reelection until 2028, but there have been rumblings among Pennsylvania Democrats about opportunities to replace him, as some look back to Fetterman’s previous primary challenger, former Rep. Connor Lamb (D-PA), with hopes that he might give it another go.
Fetterman’s team did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s requests for comment.
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