PA Democratic Candidate for US Senate: John Fetterman

For John Fetterman “This Senate race is all about the war on social inequality,” he told WESA-FM. The tattooed, 40-year old Mayor of Braddock, PA, is physically imposing at 6’8” tall and weighing in at 320 pounds. He is also a graduate from Harvard University (Master of Public Policy). He wants to make this a campaign all about PA’s forgotten communities, like Braddock, Monessen, McKeesport and Chester, “our potential Flint, Michigans”.

As he told CNN.com, “A three minute drive down Penn [Avenue] doesn’t just put you in a different community. You travel to a different galaxy”. He speaks from a unique, grassroots experience that few in national politics have. “I am not a typical politician,” he jokes, “I don’t even look like a typical person”.

Fetterman first came to the Pittsburgh area in 2001 with AmeriCorps, helping local youths earn their GED’s. After only four years, he ran against Braddock’s incumbent mayor in 2005, winning by a single vote. In addition to being the part-time mayor, Fetterman also directs an Out-Of-School-Youth program and founded the 501(c)(3), “Braddock Redux”. He was re-elected in 2009.

As Mayor, he initiated youth and art programs, a community center, and the development of the town's mostly ruined buildings and poor economy. He attracted investments from Levi Strauss and a film by Sundance Documentaries. Fetterman has attracted many young artists to the town through cheap rent and by starting various art exhibitions. He also started a two-acre organic urban farm worked by Braddock teenagers. His Brazilian-born wife, Gisele, operates The Free Store in Braddock. The Free Store, based on donations, offers free clothes, free bikes and even free food. “It’s a a Bernie Sanders Fantasyland,” said CNN.online.

Not surprisingly, Fetterman has endorsed Bernie Sanders for the democratic nomination. More surprising is that Martin O’Malley, the former presidential candidate, has endorsed Fetterman.

On the issues, he supports a $15 living wage, legalized marijuana, compassionate immigration reform. He is pro-choice. He opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade proposal, which he fears will result in more lost jobs. He owns guns but supports “science-based” gun laws. He supports a moratorium on fracking, “until we can get a severance tax and strictest environmental regulations in the country”. In 2010, he was arrested and released after he refused to leave a protest regarding UPMC’s closure of its Braddock Hospital.

He knows that he is not running the best funded campaign and that he may be a long shot, but, from his Twitter account you can get the idea of what his values are all about. “I decided in my mid-twenties, that I wanted to spend my career fighting inequality rather than making myself comfortable.” ... “I wouldn’t have this beautiful family if my wife hadn’t come to this country, albeit ‘illegally’ at the time.” ... “Too often the color of your skin determines your access to clean air.” ... [and] ... “There isn’t a crisis in education if you live in the right zip codes”, he tweets.

His wife, Gisele, the person who runs ‘The Free Store’, defends the value of immigrants in her tweets, “We paid taxes and my mother cleaned homes for 12+ hours a day to give me a better life”.

Oh yeah, about those tattoos he wears? They represent the Braddock Zip Code and the dates of the nine young men from his city who were killed in violence since he became Mayor. He carries their memories with him.

Jim McCarville is a member of the TMC Board and serves on the Editorial Collective.

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