Biden’s Pennsylvania campaign chief joins Fetterman’s team

Brendan McPhillips, the Pennsylvania state director for then-candidate Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, is joining Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s (D) team as campaign manager, Fetterman’s campaign announced.

It is McPhillips’s second run managing a Fetterman Senate campaign. During Fetterman’s 2016 bid to unseat Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), McPhillips also served as his campaign manager.

Fetterman’s campaign noted that the Senate hopeful’s current campaign manager, Bobby Maggio, would be taking on the role of senior adviser. 

“Bobby has been with me every step of the way and as the campaign kicks into high gear, he will be there again for advice out on the road,” Fetterman said in a statement. “Brendan knows Pennsylvania, he knows our team, and he knows how to win. We are building the infrastructure to win this race in November.”

“These moves put us in an even stronger position to win the general election. I look forward to having Brendan officially join and to continue to have Bobby by my side as we enter these critical final months,” he added.

McPhillips wrote in a post on Twitter that they were “putting the band back together.”

The development comes roughly five months ahead of the November midterms. Fetterman will be taking on Senate candidate Mehmet Oz after rival David McCormick conceded to the celebrity doctor in the GOP primary race. 

Fetterman has been recovering from a stroke and has had a pacemaker with a defibrillator implanted. 

Biden said on Tuesday that he had spoken with Fetterman the day before.

“If you’re in a foxhole, you want John with you, man,” the president said during an AFL-CIO labor union convention. “I know he can’t wait to get back on the trail. He’s looking good. There’s no bigger, stronger voice for working people in this state than John. Certainly no bigger one, for that matter.”

–Updated at 3:46 p.m.