Progressive effort to primary Sen. John Fetterman ramps up

On Friday, the Working Families Party launched a new website, PrimaryFetterman.com, that will serve as a hub for its effort to unseat the senator. It features pages dedicated to opposition research on him, volunteer recruitment and even a link to request donation refunds from his campaign — which the party said it will promote via digital ads.

The new website comes after the progressive group, which supported Fetterman’s 2022 run for Senate, launched its initiative to unseat him in November. That effort, the Working Families Party said, generated more than 425 sign-ups from potential candidates who want to run against him, volunteers who want to work on an effort to unseat him or donors who are interested in funding a primary campaign against him.

As Fetterman has made overtures to the right and broken with many in his party on the recent government shutdown and major foreign policy issues, he has seen longtime staff and supporters abandon him — even as he largely still votes with his party. A number of Pennsylvania Democrats across the ideological spectrum are believed to be interested in taking on Fetterman in 2028.

“While Sen. John Fetterman is supporting Trump’s use of American tax dollars to ‘run’ Venezuela or buy Greenland, 500,000 Pennsylvanians are about to see their health care premiums rise because of the Republican budget bill he supported,” said Nick Gavio, mid-Atlantic communications director for the Working Families Party and a former Fetterman staffer. “People across Pennsylvania did not put time, money and energy into supporting his campaign just to elect a Democrat who votes against our interests time and time again. We need new leadership.”