Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) stepped in to organize Pennsylvania\u2019s presence in \u201cThe Great American State Fair\u201d in Washington, D.C. after Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said state officials could not find a business to sponsor the booth.<\/p>\n
In a Saturday press release, McCormick\u2019s office said that the two senators had \u201cannounced a coalition of Pennsylvania organizations that will ensure the Commonwealth has a strong presence at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe effort is being made possible entirely through private partnerships and will not use any taxpayer dollars,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
\u201cCelebrating America\u2019s 250th birthday and Pennsylvania\u2019s special role in our country is important and bipartisan,\u201d Fetterman added in a statement. \u201cWe discovered our Commonwealth wasn\u2019t participating in the Great American State Fair on the National Mall and we should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fetterman has increasingly bucked his party during Trump\u2019s second term and has a prickly relationship with Shapiro, who has been floated as a 2028 presidential contender.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania is one of multiple<\/a> Democratic-led states that said it was skipping the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, due to the high cost to taxpayers and not being able to secure PA businesses to sponsor the booth, Pennsylvania will not be a participant in the Great American State Fair,\u201d a spokesperson for the state\u2019s Department of Community and Economic Development told The Hill on Friday.<\/p>\n Shapiro told The New Republic<\/a> earlier this week that no businesses were interested in sponsoring the booth when asked.<\/p>\n \u201cIt reflects this sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in \u2014 that the president has politicized this to a degree that businesses don\u2019t want to participate,\u201d he told The New Republic.<\/p>\n