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........

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