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To say Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has few friends among Pennsylvania House Democrats would be inaccurate.
The truth is, he has none, according to a report by Max Cohen at Punchbowl News.
The 6’8″ hoodie-clad former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor was elected to the Senate in 2022, surviving both a stroke and a rough general election battle against Dr. Mehmet Oz, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Fetterman’s tenure in the Senate has been notable for a series of public breaks with the Democrats over issues like Israel, immigration, and tariffs. He has expressed more openness to supporting several of Trump’s nominees than most Democrats, breaking with his party to vote with the Republicans. Over the past few years, Fetterman has also racked up several friendly appearances with Fox News hosts and other conservative media personalities — while the invocation of his name draws boos in liberal circles.
Chatter has been circulating for months that Pennsylvania Democrats would seek to oust Fetterman in the 2028 primary, when he’s up for re-election; polling shows he is very vulnerable to a primary challenger as his support among Democrats has essentially collapsed. Meanwhile, the state GOP party chair told local media earlier this month that they were keeping an eye out for Fetterman switching parties, despite the senator’s repeated insistence he would not do so.
In fact, he has burned so many bridges within his own party, “[n]ot a single Pennsylvania House Democrat in the delegation will say Fetterman should run for reelection as a Democrat,” wrote Cohen on Monday.
Punchbowl News reached out to the Democrats among Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to see if any “would offer support” for Fetterman’s name being on the 2028 ballot again with a D by his name.
“No one would,” wrote Cohen.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) said he’d “be very surprised” if Fetterman ran in the 2028 Democratic primary and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) highlighted the “serious disagreements” he had with Fetterman over the Iran war; there’s speculation that both congressmen are considering running for the senate seat themselves, Cohen noted.
Most avoided directly saying Fetterman shouldn’t run but did express their views that Democratic primary voters would not be forgiving for his apostasy from the party line. “It’s no secret that I’ve been disappointed with some of his votes and that I’m confused by it,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D- added. ”But I’m not responsible for deciding whether he runs again.”
He’d be running “at his own peril,” said Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), and “the voters will decide that,” added Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA). Rep. Madeline Dean (D-PA) expressed concern about Fetterman’s “health” and commented that she “disagree[d] with many of his votes” and would “let 2028 take care of itself.”
This article has been updated.
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