Pennsylvania New Members 2023

Sen.-elect John Fetterman (D-Pa.)

DATE OF BIRTH: Aug. 15, 1969
RESIDENCE: Braddock, Pa.
OCCUPATION: lieutenant governor
EDUCATION: B.A., Albright College; MBA, University of Connecticut; MPP, Harvard University
FAMILY: Gisele Barreto Fetterman; three children

• Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) defeated Republican nominee Mehmet Oz in a tight and contentious race for the state’s open Senate seat.

He will replace Sen. Pat Toomey (R), who did not seek reelection after two terms in office. 

Fetterman served as mayor of Braddock, an industrial town near Pittsburgh, from 2005 to 2019. During his tenure as mayor, Fetterman said on his campaign website, he helped “build the once-booming steel town back from collapse.” 

Prior to running for mayor, Fetterman was involved in several volunteer work programs including Big Brother Big Sisters of America and AmeriCorps.

He says he helped establish the first computer labs in Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District and taught GED classes to young parents.

Fetterman ran on pushing for a $15 minimum wage, guaranteeing health care and legalizing marijuana.

— Ines Kagubare

Rep.-elect Summer Lee (D-Pa.-12)

DATE OF BIRTH: Nov. 26, 1987
RESIDENCE: Swissvale, Pa.
OCCUPATION: Pennsylvania state representative
EDUCATION: B.A., Penn State; J.D., Howard University
FAMILY: single

• Summer Lee will represent Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District after winning the race to succeed the retiring Rep. Mike Doyle (D), who has served in the House since 1995.

Lee was the first Black woman from western Pennsylvania to serve in the state legislature and will be the first Black woman to represent the state in Congress.

After focusing on civil rights and social justice advocacy in law school, she worked as a labor organizer to advocate for the federal minimum wage being raised to $15 per hour and led voter mobilization efforts for the state Democratic Party.

Lee co-founded a grassroots organization called UNITE in 2019 to increase progressive electoral power up and down the ballot. The organization has backed a range of elected progressive candidates, including the first Black mayor of Pittsburgh, parts of which are included in the district.

— Jared Gans

Rep.-elect Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.-17)

DATE OF BIRTH: July 1984
RESIDENCE: Aspinwall, Pa.
OCCUPATION: lawyer; policy director, University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security
EDUCATION: B.S., United States Naval Academy; J.D., Georgetown Law
FAMILY: wife, Zoë Bunnell; three children

• Rep.-elect Chris Deluzio (D) is heading to the House to represent Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District after beating former Ross Township Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer (R).

The voting rights attorney and Iraq War veteran will fill the seat of outgoing Rep. Conor Lamb (D), keeping the seat in Democratic hands.

Deluzio is the policy director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security and previously worked with the Brennan Center for Justice.

He was part of the Pitt Faculty Organizing Committee with the United Steelworkers, helping form a union.

His military service, between graduating from the Naval Academy and beginning law school, sent him on three deployments, including to Iraq as an Army civil affairs officer.

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rated the race a “toss-up” as Deluzio and Shaffer were locked in a tight race, but the Democrat won by more than 6 percentage points.  

— Julia Mueller