Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who rose to national prominence as the country watched his state’s presidential election results roll in, is exploring running for Senate in 2022.

What You Need To Know

  • Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. John Fetterman announced on Friday that he is exploring running for Senate in 2022

  • Republican Sen. Pat Toomey announced in October that he won’t seek a third term in 2022

  • Pennsylvania's Senate seat in the 2022 midterms looks to be competitive, after President-elect Joe Biden flipped the once-reliably Democratic state back blue in the 2020 election

  • Fetterman, who mounted an unsuccessful Democratic primary campaign in 2016, would bring newfound national fame and name recognition to his 2022 campaign

The Philadelphia Inquirer was the first to report the news, which Fetterman himself later confirmed on Twitter.

Fetterman, who mounted an unsuccessful Democratic primary campaign in 2016, would bring newfound national fame and name recognition to his 2022 campaign, which could help him in his fundraising efforts.

“The 2022 cycle in Pennsylvania is going to be one of the most, if not the most, important races,” Fetterman told The Inquirer in an interview Thursday.

In a series of Twitter posts confirming the Inquirer’s report, Fetterman laid out his personal policy beliefs.

“All work has dignity," Fetterman wrote. "All paychecks must too. Union Way of Life is sacred + built this nation. Healthcare is a basic human right. LGBTQIA deserves Equal Protection Under The Law. Immigration Makes America, America.”

 

“Every one of PA’s 67 counties matter," he added. "Forgotten communities + neighborhoods must be rebuilt. 2nd Chances + redemption + reimagining criminal justice reform. Legal Weed for USA + ending the War on Drugs. 

“Pennsylvania needs a United States Senator that knows this is True too,” he concluded, sharing a link to an ActBlue fundraising link that reads, “Pennsylvania will be the most important Senate race in 2022. We think we can win if we go for it. But before we decide to run, we want to know who's with us.”

Later, Fetterman wrote that he was “overwhelmed with gratitude by the response in just a few hours announcing we’re exploring a run for US. Senate.”

Fetterman has become a popular figure among Democrats and progressives online, notably for his “trolling” of Texas. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who announced he was offering up to $1 million to anyone who can provide evidence of voter fraud that leads to an arrest and conviction.

“Hey, Governor Patrick – it’s your counterpart in Pennsylvania,” Fetterman wrote in November. “I’d like to collect your handsome reward for reporting voter fraud. I got a dude in Forty Fort, PA who tried to have his dead mom vote for Trump. I’d like mine in Sheetz gift cards pls.”

 

 

His colorful language made him a fixture of the election news cycle as well, telling NBC News of President Donald Trump’s legal challenges to the election results, “the president can sue a ham sandwich.”

Fetterman was in the news again recently, when this week majority Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate blocked a Democratic incumbent from being sworn in because his GOP challenger has disputed the razor-thin election results. GOP senators muscled through a motion to remove Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democrat, as the presiding officer for the day after Fetterman insisted that Brewster be sworn in with the other senators. 

Republicans then voted through another motion to recognize the election in every Senate contest, except for Brewster’s.

When it came time for newly elected and reelected Senate Democrats to take the oath of office, Brewster stepped aside to avoid a standoff. Fetterman, who had initially refused to leave the rostrum, subsequently left the chamber.

“I had no desire to ruin picture day,” Fetterman said afterward. “It came down to, there’s got to be a way for both sides to maintain their dignity and we can find a way forward. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.”

Fetterman was also in the news recently when Pennsylvania Republicans passed a measure in a budget seemingly targeted at the Lt. Gov., which prevented from flying flags apart from the American or Pennsylvania flag, or flags honoring missing soldiers, from state capitol buildings. Fetterman flies a LGBTQIA Pride flag and a marijuana legalization flag from his office balcony.

 

 

“Unless they are going to send the gay flag police after me, I don’t really know what their recourse is going to be,” Fetterman said of the decision.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey announced in October that he won’t seek a third term in 2022. Pennsylvania’s Senate race will be one of the more closely watched races in the 2022 midterms, as the state flipped blue for President-elect Joe Biden in the November election.

The makeup of the U.S. Senate will be 50-50 on Jan. 20, following the Georgia midterm elections, with incoming Vice President Kamala Harris casting tiebreaking votes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.