Politics

John Fetterman Now Has Higher Approval Rating With Republicans Than Democrats

Governor Tom Wolf/Creative Commons/Flickr

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is now more popular with Republicans than he is with Democrats, a new poll shows.

A Quinnipiac report released Wednesday highlighted a hearty swing among registered Pennsylvania voters, with Fetterman jumping 54% in his GOP voter approval since 2024. Other polling this year shows a similar trend in Fetterman’s approval among Pennsylvania voters following his frequent breaks with the Democratic Party.

The poll also found Fetterman’s approval rating stands at 46-38 with Pennsylvania voters, a plus-eight margin, compared to 45-42 in 2024. Republicans today approve 62-21 of Fetterman’s performance, compared to a 75-16 disapproval in 2024.

Democrats, meanwhile, now disapprove of Fetterman’s performance 54-33, compared with an 80-10 approval in 2024. Independent Pennsylvania voters have remained stable throughout the period, with a 43-43 approval today compared to a 42-43 approval in 2024.

Senator Fetterman’s office did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Poll via Quinnipiac, Oct. 1, 2025

Fetterman’s dramatic shift in the mind of the voting public is demonstrative of the Senator’s pattern of dissension in a largely unified party.

Facing an impending government shutdown on Tuesday, Fetterman was just one of three Democratic Senators to digress from the party line and vote with the Republicans to keep the government open.

“I just voted for two CR’s tonight,” Fetterman said in an X post on Tuesday. “The first one votes to affirm that we would like to extend the ACA tax credits, because, of course, I voted for health care. The second vote is about making sure that we keep our government open, and I did vote for that, because I think it’s a sad event if we shut our government down later today.”

Fetterman’s vote for the GOP funding bill is one of eight needed to reopen the government under the Republicans’ continuing resolution.

In February, Fetterman was the only Democratic Senator to vote with the GOP to confirm Pam Pondi as Attorney General. He said at the time that his vote was motivated by Bondi’s “qualifications,” even if she wasn’t an “ideal” candidate.

In June, Fetterman was the only Democratic Senator to vote against a resolution to require presidential restraint and congressional authorization before further offensive military action against Iran. He said at the time that he didn’t support the initiative because he “would never want to restrict any future president, Republican or Democrat, to do this kind of military exercise.”

Despite this pattern — and its effects on his perception among Pennsylvania voters — Senator Fetterman said clearly in January that he would not “become a Republican.”

“I would make a pretty terrible Republican because, you know, pro-choice, pro really strong immigration, pro-LGBTQ…I don’t think I’d be a good fit. So, I’m not going to change my party,” Fetterman said on The View in January.