Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Pat Toomey, who is retiring.
In a video released Monday announcing his campaign, Fetterman said, ”I’m going to fight not for one part of Pennsylvania, not for one party of Pennsylvania, but for one Pennsylvania.”
“I'm running for the United States Senate for the same reason I ran for lieutenant governor in 2018 and mayor of Braddock 16 years ago, because I believe in a set of core truths," Fetterman added in a statement accompanying the video.
The race to replace Toomey, who announced in October that he was retiring, is expected to be one of the most competitive in the country and will be one of the cornerstones of Democratic efforts to build on their slim majority in the chamber in 2022.
Fetterman, who had been widely expected to run for the seat, has served as the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor since 2019. A Harvard grad, Fetterman was elected in 2005 as the mayor of Braddock, his struggling hometown in Western Pennsylvania, and worked to revitalize it before running for Senate in 2016. He lost the primary to the Democratic Party's favored candidate, Katie McGinty, who went on to lose the general election.
Fetterman, 51, has attracted national attention for his unorthodox style and frequent public fighting with Republicans, particularly on Twitter.
He made headlines last month for defying a Republican-backed law banning his pro-marijuana legalization and LGBTQ rights flags, which he had hung from the balcony of his office overlooking the state Capitol’s front steps.
The tattooed Democrat, who is 6-foot-8, was dubbed an "American taste god" by GQ last year, even though he claims to own only one suit.
