John Fetterman appears on MSNBC in front of pictures of his family.
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Another Bright Spot in This Never-Ending Week: Pennsylvania’s Lt. Governor and His Awesome Wife

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Vivian Kane
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Published: Nov 6, 2020 05:52 pm

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There have been a couple of MVPs offering us some respite in this never-ending period of election result coverage—most notable, of course, being MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki, who has been hurtled into wonkish superstardom over the last few days, complete with fancams and his own Twitter emoji.

Another person who has stolen the hearts of news-watchers is Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor, John Fetterman, as his state has been one of the central battlegrounds of this election.

Many of us outside of Pennsylvania were not previously aware of Fetterman, who definitely challenges a lot of people’s preconceived ideas of what a politician—especially a Democratic politician—should look like.

Fetterman has been making a lot of appearances on cable news shows over the last few days and he refuses to disappoint in any of them.

His Twitter account is also a total delight. It’s a mix of no-nonsense, informative election/political commentary, along with a lot of PA pride.

Much of his Twitter is also dedicated to his family–his children and his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, who is every bit as awesome as her husband.

Baretto is a Brazillian-American immigrant and an activist working for food equity in the state. She met Fetterman when she was living in New Jersey and he was the mayor of Braddock, PA. Baretto reached out, CNN wrote in a recent profile, “to find out more about the town, whose declining population numbered around 2,000 at the time, and learn more about efforts to revitalize the community.”

Her Twitter account is also terrific—a mix of political advocacy and support for/loving dragging of her husband.

The family, which includes three kids and a gorgeous dog, refused to move into the taxpayer-funded LT. Governor’s residence and instead live in an unbelievably cool converted used car dealership. You seriously need to go look through these pictures of their house, it’s amazing.

The Guardian dubbed Fetterman America’s “coolest mayor.” He has a giant tattoo of his zip code on his forearm that inspired Christian Bale’s character’s neck tattoo in the 2013 movie Out of the Furnace. He says things like “Donald Trump can sue a ham sandwich.” But on top of all of that, his policies are excellent.

Refinery29 writes:

While in office, racial equity, environmental protection, gay rights, and immigration were major cornerstones for him. Fetterman created a community center, as well as youth and art programs, worked to fix the town’s ruined buildings, and paid special attention to the impacts that policing has on Black people in the community. He was even arrested for protesting in 2010.

And from a 2018 profile in the Washington Post:

He’s brought artists to this town east of Pittsburgh , fed the hungry from the bed of his pickup truck and, perhaps most important to his political fame, been a progressive since before Bernie Sanders became a household name.

I admit I was one of those people who didn’t have Fetterman on my radar before this week but now he’s never, ever leaving it.

(image: screencap)

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Author
Image of Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.
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