Small-Dollar Donors Are Asking John Fetterman for Their Money Back

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.

“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.” 

Other senators also have large numbers of refund requests. The campaign for Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., had more than 5,000 refund requests since 2021 from more than 2,000 people and eight PACs, totaling more than $2 million.

Other senators see far fewer such requests: The campaign for Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., has issued 275 refunds to more than 140 people since 2021, totaling $151,000. Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., issued just under 30 refunds last cycle, including several for excessive contributions.

One of the biggest outliers in campaign refund requests is President Donald Trump, whose campaign issued more than $120 million in refunds to donors in 2020 — more than 10 percent of what the campaign raised that cycle.

Cozy With the Right

Last month, Fetterman was scheduled to appear alongside Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., who he previously attacked. During McCormick’s 2022 and 2024 campaigns, Fetterman had railed against the Republican. Now, the two would be appearing together at an event on youth mentorship — their first joint appearance. The event was canceled after protesters demonstrated against it.

Related

Fetterman Staff Quit Amid Frustration Over “Just Working on Israel All the Time”

Staffers have left Fetterman’s office en masse since 2023. Last spring, three of his top communications staffers resigned in the course of a month. His office has had three different communications directors in the span of just over two years. The office has not hired a new communications director since the departure of Charlie Hills in February, according to LegiStorm. Fetterman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In total, six staffers have left the office since 2023, The Intercept previously reported, including several people who left over Fetterman’s singular focus on Israel.

Fetterman campaigned on being a champion of the working class, fighting to protect immigrants, and reforming the criminal justice system. Since the October 7 attacks and his increasingly cozy relationship with both the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the bulk of his office’s activity has drifted away from the promises of his 2022 campaign, according to people familiar with the office’s work. 

FEC records reflect campaign refunds through December 2024. The next round of campaign finance filings are due later this month.

The post Small-Dollar Donors Are Asking John Fetterman for Their Money Back appeared first on The Intercept.