Pat Toomey

Pat Toomey

Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 15th congressional district, from 1999 to 2005. A former Wall Street banker, he narrowly lost the Republican primary for United States Senate in 2004. In 2010, he was elected to the seat on November 2, 2010 defeating the Democratic nominee, former U. S. Navy Three-star admiral and Congressman Joe Sestak. He was reelected to the Senate on November 8, 2016, defeating Democratic nominee Katie McGinty in the general election.

About Pat Toomey in brief

Summary Pat ToomeyPatrick Joseph Toomey Jr. is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 15th congressional district, from 1999 to 2005. A former Wall Street banker, he narrowly lost the Republican primary for United States Senate in 2004. In 2010, he was elected to the seat on November 2, 2010 defeating the Democratic nominee, former U. S. Navy Three-star admiral and Congressman Joe Sestak. He was reelected to the Senate on November 8, 2016, defeating Democratic nominee Katie McGinty in the general election. On October 5, 2020, he announced that he would not run for reelection to a third term in 2022 or for governor. His father was of Irish descent and his mother of Portuguese ancestry. His mother’s grandparents were all born in the Azores. He graduated from Harvard College in 1984 with an A. B. in government. In 1998, he ran for the Pennsylvania’s15th congressional District, based in the Lehigh Valley region. He won the six-candidate Republican primary with 27% of the vote. In accordance with his 1998 pledge not to serve more than three terms in the House, he decided to challenge incumbent Senator Arlen Specter in the 2004 primary instead. In 2002, he voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution, which voted for a troop withdrawal from the country. He pushed to decrease government spending and set aside money for debt reduction.

In 2001, he proposed a budget that would cut taxes over ten years exceeding USD 2 trillion over 10 years. He later said he resigned out of concern that Deutsche Bank would impose a less flexible and entrepreneurial work environment. The same year, he and two younger brothers, Steven and Michael opened Rookie’s Restaurant in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In 1994, he drafted a new charter for the commission requiring a supermajority for any tax increase. During his term, he volunteered on the Government Study Commission. In 1996, he won the election to the AllentOWN City Council as the city’s first openly gay councilman. In 2000, he became the first openly bisexual member of a city council. He is married to his wife, Mary Ann, who was a member of St. Martha’s Catholic Church in East Providence, Rhode Island. The couple have two children, Michael and Steven. In 2003, he opened a restaurant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with his brother, Steven. He served as president of the Club for Growth from 2005 to 2009. In 2009, he joined the Republican National Committee as a vice-chairman. He also served as the chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party. In 2012, he resigned from the GOP National Committee to run for the United States House of Representatives as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination for the 2016 presidential election. He lost the GOP presidential nomination to Mitt Romney. In 2013, he said he would run for governor of Pennsylvania in 2016.