Pennsylvania Governor John Fetterman, widely seen as the frontrunner in the Democratic primaries for the state’s open US Senate seat, speaks to a voter during a campaign stop at the Brewery Mechanistic, in Clarion, Pa., on February 12.
Keith Srakocic / AP
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Keith Srakocic / AP
Pennsylvania Governor John Fetterman, widely seen as the frontrunner in the Democratic primaries for the state’s open US Senate seat, speaks to a voter during a campaign stop at the Brewery Mechanistic, in Clarion, Pa., on February 12.
Keith Srakocic / AP
John Fetterman was at a coffee shop in Pennsylvania’s Trump Country that was serving coffee to about 60 local Democrats who showed up Saturday morning.
Democrats were excited when the lieutenant governor and US Senate candidate were in rural areas. Talking to him, a local jokingly called it “enemy territory.”
“No, not enemy territory,” Fetterman replied, “just friends we haven’t met yet.”
Fetterman, the former mayor of a small town in western Pennsylvania, was a frontrunner in competitive Democratic primaries that included Representative Conor Lamb and Representative Malcolm Kenyatta. The Senate seat, left by soon-to-retire Republican Pat Toomey, is the best chance for Democrats and could determine control of the room next year.
The beer stop is in Clarion, Pa., about an hour and a half northeast of Pittsburgh. Former President Donald Trump lost to Pennsylvania in the 2020 election, but has delivered huge returns to the state’s rural areas.
Later that day, more than 100 people turned up for the Fetterman event at a fire hall in Smethport. The driveway there passes countless signs and banners that read “Trump-Pence,” “Trump 2024” and “Impeach Biden.”
“And some people will say, ‘Why are you wasting your time?” And I like, because you have rooms like this, and you have people who have the same core values and the same problems as you,” Fetterman told NPR in an interview. “And if you don’t show up, show up and you don’t participate, who else will they listen to?”
Fetterman’s image is that of an anti-politician. He’s six feet eight, with tattoos, a shaved head and a beard, and he listens for heavy metal in his truck. Despite the cold, his campaign wardrobe on Saturday was shorts and an oversized Carhartt sweater.
His original speech was also intimate, brief, and hit on topics important to working-class voters: broadband, living wages, access to health care . “We need to continuously produce more and more products in our country,” he said. “Basically I just believe it.” He’s also made marijuana legalization a big part of his foundation.
Fetterman, who was elected to his statewide office in 2018, describes himself as a progressive, but says things he advocated for years ago, like the $15 minimum wage, are now is the mainstream of the Democratic Party. Another thing Fetterman promised was that he would be tough on the Republicans and that he could play hardball as well as they could.
“When they achieve the goal they want, [Republicans] “unity and cruelty,” he said. “When it came to blocking the appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, they were united and ruthless. When it came to removing uncleanness in the party, such as Liz Cheneys and Adam Kinzingers, they were ruthless. and unite because they don’t tolerate dissent. And why can’t Democrats apply that philosophy to working families?”
Lamb underlines the possibility of voting
Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., speaks to voters at the Riardos Bar and Grill in New Castle, Pa., on August 6, 2021.
Jeff Swensen / Getty Images
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Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., speaks to voters at the Riardos Bar and Grill in New Castle, Pa., on August 6, 2021.
Jeff Swensen / Getty Images
Fetterman has raised the most money to date. But Congressman Lamb is another candidate, a moderate Democrat representing a western Pennsylvania district, where he has shown he can win in a place closely divided among Democrats. and the Republican Party.
In terms of looks and style, Lamb and Fetterman are opposites of each other. Lamb’s Facebook profile describes him as “Marine, prosecutor, patriot, Catholic, Democrat.”
But called Lamb the center candidate in the race, and he replied like this: “I don’t really care about the term center because when I hear center, what comes to mind is a person who just look at the position of the two extremes and jump in. the halfway point regardless of what they really believe,” Lamb said. “You know, I have things that I really believe in, and I’ve been campaigning for them and voting for them for four years.”
In an interview with NPR, Lamb highlighted how he differs from centrist Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, such as the congressman’s support for removing legislative violations. He describes himself as a strong supporter of President Biden’s agenda, particularly the infrastructure plan that passed with bipartisan support and the Build Back Better, yet adopted and included funding for home health care and transition to jobs in clean energy industries.
And in the end, Lamb said, his background and record make him the one who can beat a Republican in the fall of Pennsylvania.
“I think the most important issue in the primaries is simply who has a chance to win the general election,” he said. “And my experience is that I’ve beaten Republicans three times in a row in tough counties and in the big spotlight, and so, you know, I’ve made the case for me. be our banner bearer this year. And I also think that my job in Congress and especially my votes in Congress on many of the most important issues gives people a little certainty. about how I would perform as a senator.”
Kenyatta points to her roots
Pennsylvania Representative Malcolm Kenyatta meets with Chester County officials and supporters at a U.S. Senate campaign event in West Chester, Pa., on Feb. 18.
Matt Rourke / AP
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Pennsylvania Representative Malcolm Kenyatta meets with Chester County officials and supporters at a U.S. Senate campaign event in West Chester, Pa., on Feb. 18.
Matt Rourke / AP
The third leading Democrat is Kenyatta, who represents North Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He also has an eye on working-class voters. That’s the community he grew up in, he said.
“Being a working person is not about dressing a certain way,” he told NPR. “It’s about your life experience and what it means to have to look your kid straight in the eye, because my parents had to look me in the eye and say, ‘Honey, I don’t know what we’re going to do next week.’ For us, we understood that our story was grounded in a fact that so many others shared.”
Kenyatta says he will campaign across the state and that he will rally Democrats anywhere, but he also insists that he is the one who can get voters to go to the polls. urban areas of the state, especially with the Black vote.
“It’s going to be very important when we have a huge turnout in southeastern Pennsylvania,” he said.
He was also running in the hope of seeing the two barriers crumble. He wanted to be the first black American senator from Pennsylvania. Kenyatta will also be the first office worker in the state to be a member of the LGBTQ community.
“Because I live in so many different communities,” he said, “we’re well positioned to bring people together. And … when you know what it feels like to be treated differently because of who you are, how would you think about that in the policy.”
Uncertainty and anxiety
Republicans in the race for the Senate are just as insecure as Democrats, especially after Trump’s choice dropout and celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz jump in.
The Pennsylvania primaries take place in May.
Fetterman’s events primarily appeal to his supporters or those of such a disposition. But many said they still don’t know which Democrat they will vote for.
Have at least one Republican. Francis Auriemmo voted for Trump but says he’s open to supporting Fetterman in the general election.
“Just his thoughts on revival, that show promise,” Auriemmo said. “Now I understand, as mayor, he did a lot. And if he had that much energy for his town, he could have had a lot of that for the state.”
But Republicans can’t vote in the Democratic primary, and Pennsylvania Democrats don’t rely on many votes from the other side in the general election.
Democrats also have a sense of trepidation at the start of the midterm election year when historical trends suggest the party holding the White House will be defeated.
Take Marty Wilder, the chairman of the McKean County Democratic Party.
“Honestly, I was terrified,” she said. “I can only see what’s happening. I don’t know what’s going to happen. And in the middle of Trump country up here, it’s a bit scary. I tell the truth. I don’t know where the country is going. .”
