Decision 2020

What you need to know about Lt. Gov. candidate John Fetterman

Braddock Mayor John Fetterman's hands-on, unorthodox methods in the struggling mill town have been lauded around the globe, and he is hoping to take that approach statewide as lieutenant governor.

Fetterman, 49, was born in Reading and raised in York. He graduated from Albright College and enrolled in the MBA program at the University of Connecticut when the sudden death of a friend redirected him toward public service.

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The former college football player joined AmeriCorps and came to Pittsburgh as a teacher, taking a break to earn a master's degree from Harvard University. He returned to the area, settling in Braddock, and ousted the incumbent mayor in 2005 by a single vote.

Fetterman focused on creating job opportunities, facilitating youth and art programs and creatively re-purposing abandoned buildings and industrial properties. He was re-elected in 2009 and ran unopposed in 2013 and 2017.

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Braddock began to earn global attention in large part because of Fetterman's revitalization efforts, which included going on national talk shows and leasing buildings to residents and businesses for severely below-market rates and occasionally for nothing.

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The tiny borough even became the focus of a Levi Strauss ad campaign in 2010.

Fetterman ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016, gaining a surprising 20 percent of the vote in a Democratic primary loss to Katie McGinty. He won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in May, beating out incumbent Lt. Gov. Mike Stack, among others.

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His political platform leans heavily left, and he advocates for gay rights – he officiated the first gay marriage in Allegheny County before such unions were formally legalized – immigration reform and environmental protection.

Fetterman and his wife, Gisele have three children.

 

Cox Media Group

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