Close to 100 people have requested their money back from the campaign of Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa.
Refund requests can be routine part of campaigns, either because donors decide for some reason that they want a refund or they accidentally donated over the legal limit for contributions.
In Fetterman’s case, though, several donors have indicated that they asked the campaign for their money back or planned to do so because of his hard-right turn toward Israel and Republican-aligned policies. The bulk of the refund requests to Fetterman’s campaign since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza have been from small-dollar donors.
Darwin Leuba, the vice-chair of the O’Hara Township Democratic Committee and the elected auditor of the township since 2017 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, requested a refund of his $5 contribution last month.
“Fetterman’s either fighting for our rights, or he’s not. And if he’s not, then we need to push back.”
“It seems silly, right? It’s just five bucks, but it serves as a proof of concept for those who gave much more,” Leuba told The Intercept, noting that he only spoke for himself. “Our rights are being stripped away, and we need representatives who care enough to fight for us.”
“Fetterman’s either fighting for our rights, or he’s not. And if he’s not, then we need to push back,” Leuba said, “even if it’s five bucks at a time.”
The Fetterman campaign has issued more than 1,700 refund requests since 2021 from more than 1,000 donors, totaling more than $780,800, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. That includes more than 200 refunds last cycle. At least seven political action committees also received refunds. (Fetterman’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.)
Most of the refunds the campaign issued last cycle after October 7 went to small-dollar donors: More than 80 percent of the total number of refunds the campaign issued in 2024 went to donors who gave less than $100 — up 8 percent from 2023.
In all of 2024, the campaign issued more than 120 refunds totaling $17,400, compared to 96 refunds in 2023 totaling $17,600.
Still, the refunds represent a small portion of Fetterman’s campaign haul. Sixty-two donors received refunds after the October 7 attacks, totaling $20,300 across 139 contributions, less than 1 percent of the campaign’s total individual contributions that cycle. That figure does not include donors like Leuba who requested their refunds last month, or anytime since December; requests after December will be reflected in an upcoming filing.
The period since October 7 reflects about two-thirds of the total time Fetterman has been in office, making it natural for more requests for refunds to pile up since the Hamas attacks.
“Totally Defrauded by Fetterman”
Fetterman’s supporters have been vocal about their disappointment with his rightward turn since taking office.
Small-dollar donors have increasingly voiced their dismay with Fetterman since October 7, 2023, and his subsequent support for GOP efforts like the Laken Riley Act and the confirmation of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
At the same time, Republican donors ramped up their contributions to the Democratic senator after October 7, The Intercept previously reported.
“It’s been clear for a while that he’s been moving further to the right, which is why I quietly requested a refund months ago,” Leuba said. “I posted it publicly because he didn’t fight back on the government funding bill and was attacking other Democrats for voting against it. That came off as selfish and counterproductive.”
Some Reddit users posted comments on a thread about Leuba’s refund request and said they planned to do the same. “I just emailed in my refund request. I don’t expect anything to come of it, but $40 is $40,” one user wrote last month.
“I just sent in my request,” another user replied. “Not expecting any response but it’s a good way to make it clear Pennsylvania is not behind this NewCon turn. I’m not sure if he was always a fraud, it was the stroke or he’s just trying to keep [his wife] Gisele out of an ICE raid. Regardless he’s not who he said he was.”
Rabbi David Mivasair, a member of the rabbinic council of Jewish Voice for Peace and a Pennsylvania voter, wrote in a Twitter post last month that he wanted to request a refund from Fetterman’s campaign because of the senator’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza. “I must request a refund from John Fetterman, who I gave regular donations to, not knowing what a deeply perverse, genocidal monster he is. I’ll do it to clear my karma a bit and will double and donate every penny to desperate families in #Gaza,” Mivasair wrote. He added a link to donate to families in Gaza.
“I feel totally defrauded by Fetterman,” Mivasair told The Intercept, noting that he had not yet requested the refund. “I actively supported him in the Democratic primary for Senate with both advocacy and donations. If I had only known what he would end up doing in the Senate, I never would have done that.”
“I feel that way specifically because of his genocidal support for Israel. He has no regard for justice or human life when it comes to Palestinians,” he added. “I think John Fetterman is entirely irrational in his unstinting, total support for Israel as it commits genocide in full view of the world.”
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