Ahmed Moor, a Gaza native and Democratic socialist, has announced a 2028 Democratic primary challenge against Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. Moor is campaigning on foreign policy, expanded government benefits, immigration enforcement, and corruption.
In a post on X, Moor said he is running [1] to end the conflict in Iran and promote what he calls a “dignity agenda.” That agenda includes free health care, free child care, and affordable housing.
“My name is Ahmed Moor and I’m running for US Senate here in PA (election 2028),” Moor wrote. “I’m running to end the war in Iran and to promote the dignity agenda: free healthcare, free childcare, and affordable housing.”
Moor also said he is “calling for accountability for genocide” involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for corruption. His announcement places an avowed Democratic socialist in the race for Fetterman’s Senate seat.
Moor shared an article from The Philadelphia Inquirer with his announcement. The outlet identified the 42 year old candidate as a “Palestinian American writer who was born in Gaza.”
My name is Ahmed Moor and I’m running for US Senate here in PA (election 2028). I’m running to end the war in Iran and to promote the dignity agenda: free healthcare, free childcare, and affordable housing.
I’m calling for accountability for genocide, for ICE and for corruption. And finally, for the protection of our civil liberties in America. Join the fight at https://t.co/gM0uBwST6b
— Ahmed Moor (@AhmedMoor) November 9, 2026 [2]
Despite launching a challenge for Fetterman’s seat, Moor told the outlet that he views his campaign in broader terms. “The truth is, I’m not really running against Fetterman,” Moor explained.
“I’m running for good government. I’m running for the rule of law.”
Moor continued by presenting his candidacy as an expression of confidence in the country. “I’m running because I believe in America. And I believe in our capacity for renewal.”
He added, “I believe in our capacity for redressing wrongs in our midst.” Moor acknowledged that he is facing an “uphill battle” as he begins building his campaign operation.
Moor has hired Rasha Mubarak, whom the outlet described as a finance director with experience on the campaigns of Rep. Rashida Tlaib and former Rep. Cori Bush. Both lawmakers have been associated with the Democratic Party’s left flank.
Moor moved with his family to Philadelphia when he was a child. His family later returned to the region and lived in Ramallah in the West Bank for three years before leaving after the second intifada began in 2000.
Moor graduated from Roxborough High School and the University of Pennsylvania. He later earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University.
Before graduate school, Moor worked in New York at Swiss Re Capital Markets, a global reinsurance firm. He later moved from finance into journalism and went to Beirut.
While working as a freelance journalist, Moor covered the 2011 revolution in Egypt for the Guardian and other outlets. He subsequently spent eight years in Jordan, where he launched and operated a lending organization backed by venture capital for small businesses in Jordan and Egypt.
Moor returned to Philadelphia five years ago with his wife so they could raise their three daughters in the city. He also wrote opinion articles about foreign policy and served on the boards of local community organizations.
Ahmed Moor announced his campaign in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, which described him as a “Palestinian American writer who was born in Gaza.”
The outlet did not press Moor about several op-eds he’s written, including a November 2010 piece in the Guardian that described Hezbollah as a “legitimate political party that reflects the aspirations of many Lebanese people” and a July 2024 piece in the same outlet that backed “Hamas’s assertion of Palestine’s right to self defense.”
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) November 10, 2026 [3]
Those organizations included the People’s Media Fund and the Parent Infant Center in West Philadelphia. Moor has also served as a fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Moor became a dues-paying member of the Philadelphia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. The attack killed about 1,200 Israelis and sparked a war that has left more than 74,000 Palestinians dead, according to the account shared by Moor.
Fetterman has been a vocal supporter of Israel and has criticized the Democratic Socialists of America as “deeply anti-American.” That position puts him in direct contrast with the socialist organization Moor joined.
In August, Fetterman responded to a CBS News and YouGov survey showing that 58% of Democrats held a positive view of socialism. The same survey found that 32% of Democrats held a positive view of capitalism.
Fetterman warned that “the Democratic Party is becoming the party of socialism.” Moor’s entrance into Pennsylvania’s 2028 Senate contest now gives that warning a challenger with an official campaign.
The Democratic Party is becoming the party of socialism.
58% view socialism positively.
50% view capitalism negatively.
I’m a proud free market capitalist.
This is lunacy. https://t.co/i88gX2VWXF
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) August 16, 2026 [4]