When Republican voter registration activist Scott Presler ran into U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg on Friday, he had a message for the Keystone State pol.
There are a lot of Fetterman fanboys in the GOP.
While chatting with the Democratic senator, Presler told Fetterman if he would change political parties and become a Republican, the party would be happy to have him.
“If you ever would like to join the Republican Party, we would welcome you,” Presler told him.
Presler, who is credited with helping turn out the Republican votes needed to win Pennsylvania for Trump and led Dave McCormick to a razor-thin win for the U.S. Senate, told DVJournal he didn’t want to speak at length about his encounter with Fetterman.
“I tried to be jovial,” Presler said. “I believe in building bridges. I’m trying to court him.” He also added a personal observation.
“I’m 6-foot-4, and he’s taller than I am.” But he declined to say any more about the charismatic populist.
Fetterman has long had a reputation as a progressive Democrat from the fire-breathing Bernie Sanders wing of the party. But since his U.S. Senate win in 2022, he’s embraced the role of moderate maverick. In fact, Fetterman told NBC News, “I’m not a progressive.”
Fetterman has backed Israel’s right to defend itself since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorism attack. He’s called for tougher immigration enforcement. And he was a vocal critic of fellow Democrat and former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who was convicted on charges of bribery, extortion, and obstruction of justice.
Fetterman waged an open war to deny Menendez access to classified information and force him out of the Senate, to the annoyance of some in his party. Fetterman didn’t back down, and Menendez eventually declined to run for reelection.
Fetterman told his fellow Democrats to “chill out” rather than mount opposition to President-elect Donald Trump’s every move. Fetterman went so far as to praise the Trump campaign’s targeting of Vice President Kamala Harris’ positions on transgender rights, saying, “And it’s undeniable that Republicans created a really powerful message. ‘She’s for they/them, and Trump is for you.’ That was, I think, our cycle’s version of ‘Where’s the beef?’ or, ‘I knew Jack Kennedy, and you’re no Jack Kennedy.’”
Fetterman has indicated he’s keeping an “open mind” on Trump’s cabinet nominees.
However, Fetterman declined to take up Presler’s offer on Friday. His office did not respond to DVJournal’s request for comment on Monday.
Whether or not the state’s now-senior senator makes a move across the aisle, Presler said, Pennsylvania is still shifting toward the GOP. In 2012, there were 1.1 million more Democratic voters in Pennsylvania than Republicans. Now, there are just 211,798 more.
Presler told DVJournal he wanted to host a booth at the Farm Show, which runs through Jan. 11, for his group, Early Vote Action. Although he counted eight empty booths, Presler said the Farm Show administrators told him none were available. He left his contact information with them, hoping to set up a voter registration table there this week.
Shannon Powers, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture said, Presler “did not apply for space. He inquired in early December, when we already had a waiting list of 200 businesses or organizations that had completed applications.”
And though the November election is behind him, Presler is continuing to register voters and points to increasing numbers of Republican voters in Pennsylvania and other states, including New Jersey. Despite being perceived as a deep-blue state, Trump got more than 46 percent of the vote there in November, coming closer to winning the state than any Republican since 1992. Now, Presler hopes the GOP’s overperformance last year will translate into a GOP governor in the Garden State this year.
As for Fetterman, Presler says to keep hope alive.
“Who knows? 2025 is a new year.”
