A Pennsylvania native, John grew up in York and attended Albright College, where he played college football. John has dedicated his life to fighting for Pennsylvania's forgotten communities that have been left behind.
In 2005, while John was teaching GED classes, he was encouraged by his students to run for mayor of Braddock. In his 13 years as mayor, John worked to rebuild his community, creating jobs, stopping gun violence, getting youth engaged, and bringing creative urban policy solutions to Braddock. In 2018, John was elected as Pennsylvania's Lt. Governor, and transformed the position into a bully pulpit, advocating for marijuana legalization, economic justice, equal protection for the LGBTQ+ community, and criminal justice reform.
John was elected as the junior Senator from Pennsylvania in November 2022 and was sworn in on January 3rd, 2023.
John and Gisele live with their children Karl, Gracie, and August in a restored car dealership in Braddock with the family dogs, Levi and Artie.