Bob Casey Jr.

Casey was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as one of eight children of Ellen (née Harding) and Bob Casey Sr., the 42nd governor of Pennsylvania.

He is of Irish descent.

Robert Patrick Casey Jr. (born April 13, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Pennsylvania, a seat he has held since 2007.

He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Casey, Jr. is the son of Bob Casey Sr., a former governor of Pennsylvania.

Raised Catholic, he attended the College of the Holy Cross, later receiving his Juris Doctor from the Catholic University of America.

Casey played basketball and graduated from Scranton Preparatory School in 1978.

Casey's 17.4-point victory margin was also the largest for a challenger to any incumbent Senator since James Abdnor unseated George McGovern by 18.8 points in 1980.

Following in his father's footsteps, he graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1982, and received a Juris Doctor from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in 1988.

Between college and law school, Casey served as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and spent a year teaching 5th grade and coaching basketball at the Gesu School in inner-city Philadelphia.

He practiced law in Scranton from 1991 until 1996.

He practiced law in Scranton before beginning his political career as Pennsylvania Auditor General, a post to which he was elected in 1996 and re-elected in 2000, holding the post until 2005.

Casey ran for Pennsylvania State Auditor General in 1996, winning the Democratic nomination.

He won the general election and was re-elected in 2000, serving for two terms, from 1997 to 2005.

In 2002, Casey ran for governor of Pennsylvania, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Ed Rendell.

In a 2002 PoliticsPA feature story designating politicians with yearbook superlatives, he was named the "Most Likely to Succeed".

Casey attempted to follow in his father's footsteps by running for Pennsylvania Governor.

Casey faced former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell in the Democratic primary election.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party threw their support behind Casey, whom they saw as a more electable candidate than Rendell.

In a bitter primary, Rendell won the nomination by winning only 10 out of 67 counties: Philadelphia and its suburbs (Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, and Delaware), its Lehigh Valley exurbs (Berks, Lehigh and Northampton), Lancaster County, and Centre County, the home of Penn State University.

Rendell went on to win the general election.

Casey was almost immediately endorsed by Governor Ed Rendell, his primary election opponent from 2002.

After being term-limited out of his position as auditor general, Casey ran for treasurer in the 2004 election which he used as a launching pad to campaign in the 2006 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania defeating Republican incumbent Rick Santorum.

In 2004, Casey, who was term limited in his Auditor General position, was elected State Treasurer.

He was endorsed by two Democrats who had been mentioned as possible U.S. Senate nominees: former Congressman Joe Hoeffel, who had run against Pennsylvania's other Senator, Arlen Specter, in 2004, and former State Treasurer Barbara Hafer, whom many in the abortion rights movement had attempted to convince to run against Casey in the Democratic primary.

Casey's more socially conservative views led to two challenges in the Democratic primary.

His two challengers, college professor Chuck Pennacchio and pension lawyer Alan Sandals, argued that Casey's views on abortion and other social issues were too conservative for most Pennsylvania Democrats.

Casey challenged this, arguing his opinions gave him cross-party appeal.

He easily defeated both challengers in the May 16 primary receiving 85% of the vote.

On election night, Casey won the race with 59% of the vote, compared to 41% for incumbent Senator Rick Santorum.

Casey's margin of victory was the highest ever for a Democrat running for the United States Senate in Pennsylvania.

He served in this position from 2005 to 2007.

In 2005, Casey received calls from U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, as well as Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Minority Leader.

On March 5, 2005, Casey launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination.

Casey's run for the Senate was his fifth statewide campaign in nine years.

Both men asked him to run for U.S. Senate in 2006 against Republican incumbent Rick Santorum.

He was reelected in 2012 and in 2018, becoming the first Democrat in Pennsylvania to win a third consecutive term in the Senate.

Casey is running for reelection to a fourth term in the Senate in 2024.

He is the current dean of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation.

Casey sought re-election in 2012.