U.S. Sen. John Fetterman believes he would win a Democratic primary if one were held today, even as questions persist over his standing within his own party.
Speaking on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on Aug. 5, the Pennsylvania Democrat responded positively when asked how he would fare in a potential primary matchup.
“Yeah,” Fetterman said. “I mean, I mean, that’s — we don’t know exactly, but overall, it’s 2026, so it’s, it’s really kind of a theoretic.”
Although Fetterman is not up for reelection until 2028 and has not formally announced plans to run, his political future has drawn heightened scrutiny from both sides of the aisle.
The senator has sparked party-switching speculation in recent months due to public criticism of fellow Democrats, frequent appearances on Fox News, and votes in favor of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.
According to Ballotpedia, Fetterman was one of only two Senate Democrats to confirm at least half of Trump’s cabinet picks in 2025, voting in favor of 12 out of 23 candidates.
Despite those votes, leadership tracking from GovTrack continues to position Fetterman as an ideological Democrat, placing several other Democratic senators closer to the Republican side of the spectrum.
Speculation around his party affiliation intensified last month after Fetterman addressed the conditions under which he might consider leaving the party.
“If they put that in our platform — no aid for Israel — and officially become the anti-Israel party, then yeah, that’s a red line for me,” Fetterman told NBC News. “Democrats, we always should support Israel. That’s our special ally, you know? In the only democracy in the entire region, that’s Israel. So I’m always proud to stand with Israel.”
Recent polling highlights a shifting base of support across Pennsylvania. A July Quinnipiac University poll showed Fetterman with a 48% overall approval rating among state voters.
His support stood at 77% among Republicans, while dropping to 19% among Democrats and 48% among independents. The same survey found that 52% of voters preferred him to leave the Democratic Party, compared to 31% who wanted him to stay.
A separate end-of-July reader poll conducted by PennLive found similar headwinds among 630 respondents, with 58% stating they would vote for someone else if Fetterman were up for reelection this year.
Forty percent indicated they would vote for him, including 28% who said “probably” and 12% who said “definitely.”
Fetterman previously secured his Senate seat in 2022 with strong support from Democratic strongholds, including Allegheny County. Official Commonwealth of Pennsylvania election returns show he won the county with 363,873 votes (63.4%) compared to 200,672 votes (34.9%) for Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz. Votes from the Pittsburgh area made up over 13.2% of Fetterman’s statewide total of 2,751,012 votes.
READ: Victor Davis Hanson: Economic And Military Strain Mounts On Iran Ahead Of U.S. Midterms
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