Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman’s popularity is underwater among Democratic voters in his state according to an internal poll.
The poll was performed from Feb. 6 to 11 — three months before New York Magazine released an article reporting that staff and other sources close to the senator worry for his physical and mental health, which Fetterman has since called a “one-source hit piece.” With the poll arriving on the heels of the story, Democrats have “begun looking into rules” regarding the senator’s potential resignation and are “whispering about potential replacements,” according to Politico, who first reported the poll.
Just under half — 49% — of likely Democratic voters in Pittsburgh, near where Fetterman lives, said they have an unfavorable impression of the senator, while 46% said their impression of him was favorable, according to the poll. By contrast, the state’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro was seen as favorable by 82% of the same set of voters and unfavorable by just 13%.
The poll also found that Fetterman’s approval ratings among progressives in Pittsburgh are especially low, with just under three quarters — 74% — of progressive Democrats in the city recording an unfavorable impression of him. Meanwhile, 52% of liberal Democrats found the Pennsylvania senator to be favorable, according to the poll. Moderate and conservative Pittsburgh Democrats viewed Fetterman significantly more positively, as 65% reported viewing him favorably.
Fetterman had considered himself to be a “progressive” earlier in his career, but in 2023, he told NBC News that he is not one.
The senator’s record has strayed from his Democratic colleagues in the recent past. He was the only member of his party’s caucus who voted to confirm Trump administration Attorney General Pam Bondi. During the Senate’s battle over a continuing resolution to keep the government open in March, Fetterman was one of the few Democrats in the chamber to readily oppose a shutdown, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation that he “refuses to burn the village down to claim to save it.”
Fetterman also co-sponsored the Laken Riley Act, which requires federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged with certain crimes. The Pennsylvania Democrat traveled to Mar-a-Lago in January to meet with President Donald Trump, saying he “will meet with and have a conversation with anyone if it helps me deliver for Pennsylvania and the nation.”
The senator has also been openly pro-Israel since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7 2023, frequently clashing with other prominent Democrats regarding his support for the American ally.
NewsNation host Chris Cuomo made comments about Democrats’ recent reactions to Fetterman during Thursday’s episode of “The Chris Cuomo Project.”
“Fetterman is a test case — a case study — in why the Democrats fell to the position that they’re in. You focus on the wrong things,” Cuomo said. “You focus on purity tests. And you eat your own. And you may think it makes you better, but when it comes to winning races, it has made you worse.”
Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, the Keystone State’s other senator, stated his support for Fetterman and condemned the “disgraceful smears” against him.
“It’s time to put politics aside and stop these vicious, personal attacks against Senator Fetterman, his wife, and his health,” McCormick wrote in an X post defending his colleague on Friday. “While we have many differences, we are both committed to working together to achieve results for the people of Pennsylvania and make their lives better. He is authentic, decent, principled, and a fighter. These disgraceful smears against him are not the John that I know and respect.”
Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton also released a statement supporting Fetterman, saying that even with their differences, he is a “decent and genuine guy.”
“The radical left is smearing him with dishonest, vicious attacks because he’s pro-Israel and they only want reliable anti-Israel politicians. Disgraceful,” Cotton wrote on Friday.
Fetterman was elected to his first Senate term in 2022 and is up for reelection in 2028. Trump won Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, by 1.7 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.
Fetterman’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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