Pennsylvania Congressman Brendan Boyle is leaving the door open to a 2028 U.S. Senate campaign, telling voters he has "major concerns" about fellow Democrat John Fetterman's fitness to lead the party's ticket again.
Speaking on "This Week in Pennsylvania," Boyle said he plans to seriously weigh a Senate run in 2027, after this fall's midterms. He declined to rule it out, telling the program, "I did not say no; I did not say yes."
The remarks mark an escalation in Boyle's public criticism of Fetterman, whom he has previously mocked online as "Trump's favorite Democrat" over the senator's willingness to back several of the president's nominees. Boyle argued Democrats "can do better" than a nominee whose positions shift unpredictably, a pointed jab from within his own party.
Boyle is seeking his seventh House term this November. Fetterman was first elected to the Senate in 2022.
The intraparty sniping underscores a widening rift among Pennsylvania Democrats over how closely to align with Trump-era Republicans on nominations and legislation, a split national Democrats have struggled to paper over heading into the midterms. Fetterman has drawn repeated fire from his party's left-wing for breaking with progressives since taking office.
Boyle currently serves as ranking member of the House Budget Committee and would chair it outright if Democrats retake the majority this fall, a role he says remains his focus for now. Whether that ambition survives contact with a real Senate campaign, and whether Fetterman seeks another term at all, will shape one of the state's most closely watched contests in 2028.
