Politics

John Fetterman finds himself increasingly alone

Published

12 months ago

May 8, 2025

John Fetterman has long been on a political island — and now his tendency to rebuff professional relationships is coming back to bite him.

Few fellow Democrats have rushed to Fetterman’s defense after an explosive article in New York magazine reported that current and former staffers are seriously concerned about his mental and physical health. The Pennsylvania senator, who has strongly denied claims that he is unfit to serve, is not doing traditional damage control, and most top Democrats aren’t going out of their way to do it for him.

Instead, private chatter about primary challenges to Fetterman has ramped up. And in recent days, some Pennsylvania Democrats have begun to quietly review the rules about what would happen if he stepped down and whispered about potential replacements. Fetterman has vowed to serve his full term, which ends in 2029.

Even some top Democrats in his state, who would normally be expected to be in contact with their legislative counterpart, aren’t speaking out in support of their party’s only senator.

“I have had no contact or conversation with him, so I have no way of weighing in on that,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), when asked to comment on the report. She added that “I couldn’t tell you” when she’d last talked to Fetterman.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) said she hadn’t spoken to Fetterman “recently” and didn’t know the “underlying facts” about Fetterman’s situation, but that the article “obviously raises questions.”

Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), a progressive whose district includes the town where Fetterman lives, said she hadn‘t talked to him recently. Asked about the story, she responded pointedly that Pennsylvanians’ thoughts matter more than her own: “I hope they read it.”

The episode has illustrated Fetterman’s standing — or lack thereof — in a party where many who once embraced him as a potential model for the future have now ostracized him over his shifting political persona. The public defense of Fetterman has largely come from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the few Democrats with whom Fetterman has existing relationships.

In a sign of evolving political allegiances, the home-state elected official offering the strongest defense of Fetterman is actually a Republican.

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) told Blue Light News that Fetterman “is authentic and a fighter, and these disgraceful attacks against him are not the John that I know and respect.” McCormick said he and Fetterman have a “great relationship, both professionally and personally.”

Fetterman declined to comment for this story. But in a Tuesday interview with BLN, he said the New York article is “a one-source hit piece, and it involved maybe two or three and anonymous disgruntled staffers saying just absolute false things.” He denied missing medical check-ups or doses of medication.

Fetterman has always had a go-it-alone attitude, and while progressives once adored him, he has never been a favorite of the Democratic establishment. In his 2022 Senate primary, only a handful of elected Democrats endorsed Fetterman. Going as far back as when he was mayor of Braddock, he ruffled feathers among Democrats.

So it’s no surprise to Fetterman’s current and former aides, at least, that he finds himself relatively alone at a perilous moment in his career.

“He’s never been somebody that has all these long-standing relationships with other elected officials,” said a Fetterman adviser who was granted anonymity to speak frankly. “That’s been his whole career. So I don’t think it’s abnormal when it comes to him to not see an outpouring of defense or support for him.”

The adviser argued voters like “that he isn’t seen as his fellow colleagues’ best friend” and “he partly got elected for that reason.”

Recent Morning Consult polls have found Fetterman’s popularity on the rise in Pennsylvania, as Republican voters have increasingly given him a thumbs-up while Democratic voters have stood by him despite criticism from some on the left. Fifty percent of state voters approved of his job performance, while 35 percent disapproved. But a survey of adults across the nation painted a different picture, showing his approval rating underwater among Democrats and independents, but positive among Republicans.

Schumer told reporters that Fetterman is an “all-star” who is “doing a good job.” Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who joined the Senate in the same class as Fetterman, “recently had dinner with Senator Fetterman,” a spokesperson said. “He’s a friend and he’ll continue to support him.” Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), a fellow western Pennsylvania Democrat, said Fetterman has been “up front in the past about his mental health treatment,” and “should get a chance to weigh in and address the reports here.”

Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), who has suffered his own health setbacks since having a stroke in 2024, said that he had “no” concerns about Fetterman’s fitness. But he also acknowledged that he has not talked with him recently, something he didn’t read too much into and said was “par for the course.”

When Fetterman faced medical crises in the past, Democrats united around him in a tight battleground election while Republicans expressed concern.

After Fetterman suffered a stroke in his 2022 campaign, top Democrats, especially then-Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), strongly vouched for him. Democrats also came to his defense when he checked himself into the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for clinical depression in 2023. They hailed him as courageous for speaking out about his mental health struggles — a marked departure from past elected officials.

But Fetterman’s personal and professional support has dwindled since then. Online progressives, once his social media army, now detest him over his hardline views on Israel and meeting with President Donald Trump. His congressional office has hemorrhaged staff. And Casey, who lost reelection last year, is no longer in the Senate.

The article in New York magazine reported that his former aides claim he has avoided doctor’s appointments, driven away people close to him and potentially not taken his medication.

The fallout has exacerbated existing party tensions. Even before the most recent accusations, Democrats had floated the prospect of primary challenges against Fetterman, including by current and former members of the congressional delegation.

Talk of a contested primary — an attempt to oust the party’s own swing-state incumbent — has also increased, years before the seat is up for election in 2028. Fetterman’s erstwhile primary rival, former Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), has drawn attention recently by criticizing Trump — and, now, Fetterman.

“I’ve seen politics be hard on people so I’m concerned for the Fettermans,” Lamb said. “I think I share the feeling of many that I don’t know his true condition, but if he is okay, as he says, I don’t understand why he’s rarely seen in our state and he doesn’t answer constituent questions on things like his vote for [Attorney General] Pam Bondi or his advocacy for war with Iran.”

Asked if he is weighing a challenge against Fetterman, Lamb said he is “not considering any campaign right now” and that his recent appearances at public demonstrations against Trump are aimed at “just trying to help others.”

Politics

Talarico needs Crockett’s Black voters. They aren’t all convinced.

Published

29 minutes ago

April 26, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

DALLAS — Friendship-West Baptist Church is a stronghold for Black politics, where candidates pass through cycle after cycle to win over its 13,000 congregants. It’s the church Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) calls home; her pastor, the Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III, is now running to succeed her in Congress. Even Beto O’Rourke visited last week to encourage people to register to vote.

But several congregants can’t help but notice a continued absence this year: James Talarico.

The Democratic Senate nominee has a long road ahead if he wants to flip the Texas seat blue — one that requires winning over the state’s nearly 3 million Black voters, who largely broke for Crockett in the March primary and many of whom remain skeptical of his candidacy.

“Come and make the ask. Come and try to earn the vote,” said Alan Williams, a Crockett voter and Friendship-West congregant. “I think he thinks our vote is just a default and he doesn’t have to earn it.”

In the month-and-a-half since he won the nomination, Talarico has begun criss-crossing Texas, including visiting some Black churches, holding meetings with faith leaders and elected officials, and block-walking in majority-Black cities. But frustration from worshippers at Friendship-West — who have yet to hear from him directly — and interviews with Black power brokers across the state reveal the pressure Talarico faces to move faster to heal open wounds from a contentious primary and convince voters to turn out.

David Malcolm McGruder, the church’s executive pastor, said Talarico has to do more to sell his vision to voters — and convince them he’ll follow through: “We have people who show up in our churches during the election season, but who don’t show up for us at the level of policy beyond November.”

Talarico, in an interview, acknowledged that he would “love” to visit Friendship-West soon. “My top priority is bringing our coalition back together, and that is specifically reaching out to Black Texans,” he said. “There’s no way to win Texas without winning the trust and the support of Black voters. Period. Full stop.”

It’s clear that Talarico has his work cut out for him. He wasn’t Black voters’ preferred candidate. Some are exhausted by a messy primary that thrust questions over race and electability into the center of the contest. And while Black voters are overwhelmingly committed Democrats, he needs to keep enthusiasm high to ensure they turn out, especially as concerns over voter suppression grow. (A last-minute rule change in Dallas County, Crockett’s home base, caused thousands of people to be turned away from the polls or have their ballots invalidated on primary Election Day.)

Democrats have long faced accusations that they take Black voters for granted. Several Texas strategists are worried that’ll happen again in the lead up to November — and that the party will blame Black voters if Talarico loses.

“Black voters have been let down over time,” said Antjuan Seawright, a longtime Democratic strategist who has advised the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “What some may not understand is that our vote, more so than any other constituency in the history of this country, has always been a demonstration of our trust, but our trust has either been taken for granted or has always been on the chopping block by a number of people.”

Talarico is already getting on-the-ground support from Democratic groups like O’Rourke’s Powered By People and a host of Black state lawmakers.

“We don’t have time to remain in our feelings,” added Crystal Chism, president of the Dallas County chapter of Texas Coalition of Black Democrats. “We need to make the main thing the main thing, and that’s getting Talarico elected.”

But there’s a notable ally missing: Even though Crockett quickly conceded the race and endorsed Talarico in March, she has yet to hit the campaign trail or put much effort publicly into rallying the base behind him. Crockett, through a spokesperson, declined an interview request for this story.

Talarico said he and Crockett have “exchanged a few messages” since the primary and he “would love nothing more” than to have her on the campaign trail.

“He’s got his work cut out for him,” noted Russell Maryland, the former No. 1 NFL draft pick who won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys and voted for Crockett in the primary. “He’s gonna have to work to win over Jasmine’s supporters. … Talarico will really need to put his fingers in the ground, so to speak in football terms, and kick up some dust.”

The seminarian is still trying to overcome some of the criticism leveled against him in the lead up to the primary.

In February, a PAC that supported Talarico ran a TV ad with the tagline, “If she wins, we lose.” Crockett claimed the ad darkened her skin and said it was bigoted. “It’s not even undertones right now,” she said. “It’s straight-up racist.” (Talarico, in an interview, emphasized that the PAC was not affiliated with his campaign and that he disagreed with its message. He added that he believes Crockett is electable statewide in Texas, as he has said before.)

Then a social media influencer claimed Talarico told her in a private conversation that former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who dropped out of the Senate race right before Crockett joined, was a “mediocre Black man.” Talarico has said that was a mischaracterization of his comments, and that he was describing Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre.

Allred, who is now in a competitive run-off to represent Texas’ 33rd district, said in an interview that he backs Talarico. “Of course I support him,” he said. “I support Democrats. I’ve been supporting Democrats here for my whole life.”

But Talarico’s challenge, Allred added, isn’t convincing Black voters to support him over the Republican nominee — it’s convincing them to turn out.

“He needs to show comfort in Black spaces and Black communities,” Allred said. “I’m sure he can do that, but there’s just no substitute for it. Particularly given how some of the ads that ran, there may be some element of having to show contrition, even if he wasn’t responsible for all those.”

Talarico has visited Black churches almost every weekend since the primary, and he dropped by Prairie View A&M University, an HBCU, on Wednesday, where he acknowledged he has “got to earn the trust and the respect and the support of every single one of the congresswoman’s supporters.” He blocked-walk in majority-Black DeSoto, Texas and held a roundtable with Black community leaders in Austin recently. And last month, he convened African American clerics at Saint Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas for a discussion about policy.

“The Democratic Party has taken Black voters for granted and assumed that they’re just part of the base, assumed they’ll just show up and vote for you,” Talarico said in an interview. “And I think we’ve seen the disastrous results of that kind of disrespect toward Black voters.”

To his benefit, Talarico has an army of Texas Democrats anxious to flip the state for the first time in decades. Last Sunday, O’Rourke — whose three-point loss in 2018 to GOP Sen. Ted Cruz was Texas Democrats’ high-water mark this century — mingled with congregants at Friendship-West, while his organization’s yellow-vested volunteers encouraged them to check their voter registration.

“I love James Talarico,” O’Rourke said. “I’m excited for him. I’ve talked to him and said, ‘You can send me anywhere that the campaign can’t get to. I will raise money for you. I’ll go try to get your volunteers fired up. I’ll speak as a surrogate. You let me know.’”

State Sen. Royce West of Dallas, who voted for Crockett and has since endorsed Talarico, is also optimistic, if more measured: “He’s warming up. He has support within the African American community. Is it where it needs to be? No. Is he making strides? Yes.”

On the Republican side, longtime Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton are locked in a lengthy and expensive run-off that could play to Democrats’ advantage. Talarico’s internal polling shows him competitiveagainst either candidate, but some observers think he has a stronger path against Paxton given his myriad controversies. Talarico boasts a cash advantage with almost $10 million cash on hand after the first quarter of the year, compared with Cornyn’s more than $8 million and Paxton’s $2.6 million.

“There’s work to be done,” said Cliff Walker, a Texas Democratic strategist and principal at Seeker Strategies. “But I don’t stay up at night worried that we’re not going to be able to reassemble this coalition in time for November.”