Credit: PA Internet News Service
For the first time in decades, Pennsylvania has two Democratic U.S. senators in Washington D.C.
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Sen. John Fetterman took the oath Tuesday afternoon after resigning from his job as lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania. He serves alongside fellow Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.
“It has been my honor to serve as your Lieutenant Governor these past four years, and I’m proud of all we’ve been able to accomplish together. Today as I’m sworn in as U.S. senator, I promise to keep fighting for each one of you, in every community across Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said in the final statement issued through his state office.
While Fetterman, a Democrat from the western portion of the state, is serving in the U.S. Senate, State Sen. Kim Ward, the new president pro tempore of the state senate, took the oath as the acting lieutenant governor for the remaining days of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s time in office.
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Ward, who hails from the western portion of the state, was second in line for the governorship under the Pennsylvania Constitution in her role as the ranking state senator. However, Fetterman’s resignation puts her first in line after Wolf.
Lt. Gov.-Elect Austin Davis and Gov.-Elect Josh Shapiro, both Democrats, will be sworn in on January 17.
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The lieutenant governor has the official duties of serving as president of the state senate and being the chairperson of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council.
Ward is the first woman to be appointed by the state senate majority to serve as president pro tempore of the senate in the state’s history. However, she will not be the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor.
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