Fetterman names former Biden Pa. director as new campaign manager

John Fetterman has brought on the former state director of President Joe Biden’s campaign as his new U.S. Senate campaign manager.

Brendan McPhillips, who is based in Philadelphia, will replace Bobby Maggio, who served as Fetterman’s campaign manager during the Democratic primary.

The move was first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“These moves put us in an even stronger position to win the general election,” Fetterman said in a statement. “I look forward to having Brendan officially join and to continue to have Bobby by my side as we enter these critical final months.”

The campaign said Maggio would now be a senior advisor and will travel with Fetterman, who continues to recuperate at his home in Braddock from a stroke he suffered on May 13.

“Bobby has been with me every step of the way and as the campaign kicks into high gear, he will be there again for advice out on the road,” Fetterman said. “Brendan knows Pennsylvania, he knows our team, and he knows how to win. We are building the infrastructure to win this race in November.”

This is not the first time McPhillips has worked with Fetterman. In 2016, he ran Fetterman’s unsuccessful Senate campaign in which Fetterman finished third in the primary behind Joe Sestak and winner Katie McGinty.

Before joining the Biden campaign in Pennsylvania, McPhillips served as the Iowa state director for Pete Buttigieg’s primary presidential campaign.

McPhillips has a long resume of political work, particularly in Pennsylvania, where he was regional field director for the Obama campaign in 2012, campaign manager for Kevin Strouse for Congress in Bucks County in 2014, the campaign manager for Philadelphia Councilwoman Helen Gym in 2015 and a senior advisor to her in 2019, and the state political director for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Outside of the Keystone State, McPhillips was campaign manager for Andrew Gillum in Florida’s governor race in 2019 and, most recently, the campaign manager for former Obama administration official Shaun Donovan’s unsuccessful bid for New York City mayor last year.

McPhillips told the Inquirer that he first met Fetterman in 2009 when he was a student at the University of Notre Dame and Fetterman, then the mayor of Braddock, came to speak with political science students.

Ten years later, McPhillips said he asked Fetterman to officiate his marriage.