Lt. Gov. John Fetterman files statement of candidacy for possible U.S. Senate run

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has taken further steps toward finalizing a possible bid for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat that will be open in the 2022 election.

While he has not formally announced his bid for the seat, Fetterman, 51, filed a statement of candidacy this week with the Federal Election Commission, online records show.

The filing came almost a month after Fetterman said he was exploring a run for U.S. Senate. At the time, he set up a campaign account for the U.S. Senate bid.

Rebecca Katz, a spokeswoman for Fetterman, said Thursday’s statement of candidacy was filed “because an exploratory committee can only raise a very limited amount of money, we had to refile our paperwork with the FEC as a full campaign committee. This is routine paperwork. John has been honest and straightforward that he is taking a hard look at running.”

The seat is held by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, who in October announced he will not seek reelection in 2022 after a combined total of 18 years in Congress.

Fetterman stating his interest in the U.S. Senate seat last month ended speculation that he might run for governor, a position also opening in the 2022 election. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, is term limited.

This is not the first time Fetterman has sought a U.S. Senate seat. The former Braddock mayor came in third in 2016’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate before running successfully for lieutenant governor in 2018.

Announcing his bid for lieutenant governor in 2017, Fetterman said he believed the position would give him a platform to address community policing, the opioid epidemic and immigration, which has been a personal topic for Fetterman, whose wife, Gisele, is a native of Brazil.

More recently in his role as lieutenant governor, Fetterman has pushed to legalize marijuana, raise the minimum wage and pushed back against voter fraud claims during the presidential election that largely centered around Pennsylvania.

Fetterman recently discussed those topics with Mark Whitaker for “CBS Sunday Morning” in late January.