Toomey’s rise, from Valley congressman to the Senate
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who became the Lehigh Valley’s most powerful elected official, will return to private life when his term ends in 2022, he announced Monday.
“Representing the people of Pennsylvania, this big, beautiful, complicated, diverse state, has been an extraordinary honor,” Toomey ,58, said at a news conference in Bethlehem, adding that stepping away from government service “is consistent with longheld views I’ve had in support of term limits.”
Here are key points in Toomey’s career as a Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania lawmaker:
1994: Toomey, a former Wall Street banker, enters politics by serving on Allentown’s Government Study Commission.
1998: Toomey says he wants voters to know him as a small-business owner and cites his frustration with government policies as the deciding factor in a run for the U.S. House of Representatives.
He’s successful in his bid, first defeating five challengers, including former state Sen. Joe U liana, in the Republican primary. Toomey goes on to defeat then state Sen. Roy Afflerbach in November.
He takes office the follow
ing year, ultimately becoming known for leading a“conservative rebellion” by blocking spending measures he believed were too costly.
2000, 2002: Toomey is reelected to second and third terms, twice def eating Ed O’ Brien, president of Bethlehem-based United Steelworkers Local 2598.
2004: Toomey voluntarily leaves the House, having pledged to serve only three terms. Hetries to unseat longtime Sen. Arlen Specter in the Republican primary but is unsuccessful.
2005: Toomey takes the helm of the Club for Growth, a conser
vative organization that promotes smaller government and lower taxes, just days after his term expired and months after his unsuccessful challenge of Specter.
2010-11: Toomey is expected to challenge Specter again in a tough rematch of 2004, but Specter switches to the Democratic Party and is defeated in the primary. Toomey wins the Republican nomination and faces Joe Sestak in the general election, winning by a narrow margin.
Toomey enters the Senate in 2011, and is named to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. He introduces a proposal to balance the budget in 10 years, but it’s met with strong support and not enacted. He also co-sponsors a bill to put regulatory control over fracking in the hands of the state.
2012: Toomey is named chairman of the U.S. Senate Steering Committee.
2016: Toomeyis reelected Nov. 8, narrowly def eating Democratic nominee Katie McGinty. Toomey waits to announce he cast his ballot for his party’s nominee for president, Donald Trump, until hours before the polls close on Election Day.
2019: In February, Toomey is one of 16 senators to vote against legislation preventing a partial government shutdown. The bill contains $1.375 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The next month, he’s one of 12 Republican senators to co-sponsor are solution that would impose a constitutional amendment limiting the Supreme Court to nine justices.
2020: In April, Toomey is appointed to the COVID19 Congressional Oversight Commission, tasked with overseeing the implementation of federal coronavirus relief legislation.
On Oct .5, he announce she will end his Senate career when his term ends. The announcement puts to rest speculation he might run for governor in 2022.