John Fetterman, the mayor whose efforts to turn Braddock around have drawn national media attention, announced his campaign for lieutenant governor Tuesday morning.

"The reason I am running for lieutenant governor are the exact reasons I came to Braddock back in 2001" — to fight for progressive issues including a higher minimum wage, better police-community relations, and marijuana legalization, he said.

"I'm going to be going out all across Pennsylvania, campaigning [in] many of these forgotten places — second-chance cities, whatever you want to call them — that have become my professional passion," he told a crowd of roughly 100 supporters in a Braddock theater space.

Mr. Fetterman, who often sports a Dickie-shirt-and-cargo-shorts ensemble, opened his five-minute speech joking that. "Everyone is here for a major announcement. I'm wearing long pants today. And I'm also running for lieutenant governor."

Mr. Fetterman later told reporters he had no intention of changing his style, or his address. "I'm always going to live across the street from a steel mill," referring to the Edgar Thomson works a stone's throw from the event and his home.

Ordinarily, lieutenant governors dwell in a three-story home in Fort Indiantown Gap. The job also comes with a $162,373 salary: As a part-time mayor, Mr. Fetterman earns $150 a month, though he says he declines that salary.

Lieutenant governors are elected separately from the governor, and incumbent Lt. Gov. Mike Stack has been mired in controversy around allegations he mistreated state employees. He has little relationship with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

But Mr. Fetterman, who described Mr. Stack as "another candidate in this race," told reporters he would run on issues. "It's just going to be a positive race about our record and our ideas."

Also running for lieutenant governor are Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone and Aryanna Berringer, a Murrysville Iraq War veteran and previous Congressional candidate.

Ms. Berringer’s campaign reacted to Mr. Fetterman’s entry with a statement saying she “fought my way out of poverty and served on the front lines of war. ... I've faced a lot harder challenges in life than a political campaign, no matter who or how many candidates run."

Mr. Fetterman said he spoke to Gov. Wolf's team before deciding whether to run, and that they raised no objection — although "they're not weighing in on the race." He would, he said, be "a progressive backstop" for Mr. Wolf, supporting the administration’s agenda while using his "bully pulpit" to advocate for communities like his own.

The Wolf campaign said it would not comment on the lieutenant governor’s race, but Mr. Fetterman’s kickoff included an endorsement by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. Mr. Peduto said that while many leaders fomented division between communities, Mr. Fetterman was “somebody who can not only speak for all, but who has proven through their leadership in a community that has been knocked down to its knees," he said.

Others either speaking or in attendance included Pittsburgh school board member Lynda Wrenn, former Congressional candidate Erin McClelland — who had been rumored to be considering a run of her own for the seat — and actor David Conrad.

Much of Mr. Fetterman's campaign messaging, including an introductory video, contrasted him with President Donald Trump, whose 2016 campaign targeted the resentment of rust belt communities.

The gritty two-minute video features the candidate driving through the landscape, along with shots of residents working together. Mr. Fetterman laments that "the leadership in this country will turn around as use towns and places like mine as props. " Turning around places like Braddock, he said, meant "You've got to get busy living or get busy dying.”

Mr. Fetterman grew up in a York family that owned an insurance business, and later earned a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University. He moved to Braddock after participating in an Americorps program that helped people earn high-school equivalency degrees. He ran for mayor of the distressed city in 2005, winning by a single vote.

While mayoral powers in a borough like Braddock are largely limited to policing, Mr. Fetterman used nonprofit ties and charisma to encourage a turnaround. Amenities in Braddock now include an urban garden and a brewpub. Mr. Fetterman also arranged financing for Superior Motors, a long-anticipated restaurant run by celebrity local chef Kevin Sousa.

Braddock's population has continued to decline, Census figures suggest, with more than one-third of its roughly 2,200 residents livign below poverty level. But Mr. Fetterman's efforts brought national attention, including a Levi's ad campaign and news stories that often feature his tattoos — one for every resident murdered during his tenure as mayor — under headlines like "Mayor of Rust."

"Those are some big shoes, literally, that we're going to have to fill” if Mr. Fetterman wins, said Borough council President Tina Doose, riffing on his 6-foot-8-inch frame. “He has been the face of our community, the voice of Braddock.”

Mr. Fetterman ran for Senate in 2016, and finished third in a four-way Democratic primary. He garnered just under 20 percent of Democratic votes, but won Allegheny County handily and finished second in some other southwestern Pennsylvania counties.

Asked how Braddock would fare without him as mayor, Mr. Fetterman said, "We have a lot of great local leaders." But while he said Braddock's prospects had improved, communities like it still needed help. "It's about getting a bigger platform, and that's why I'm running for lieutenant governor," he said.

Chris Potter: cpotter@post-gazette.com

First Published November 14, 2017, 2:19pm