Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D—Pa.)

Sen. Bob Casey, one of eight children, was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on April 13, 1960, of Irish American descent on his father's side. He is the son of Ellen Harding Casey and Robert P. Casey, the 42nd governor of Pennsylvania.
Bob played basketball and graduated from Scranton Preparatory School in 1978.
Following in his namesake father's footsteps, Bob Casey graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1982, and received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America in 1988.
Between college and law school, Bob 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, Pennsylvania.
He and his wife Terese were married in 1985, reside in Scranton, PA, and they have four daughters: Elyse, Caroline, Julia, and Marena.
Attorney Bob Casey practiced law in Scranton from 1991 until he ran for and was elected Pennsylvania State Auditor General in 1996. Bob Casey, is a mild-mannered politician who has tailored himself as an economic populist but a social moderate. Auditor General Casey served in this capacity for two terms, from 1997 to 2005.
In 2002 Auditor General Casey, the namesake son of the late popular former Pennsylvania governor, attempted to follow in his father's footsteps by running for Governor. Auditor General Casey faced former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell in the Democratic primary election. Auditor General Casey performed well in the rural areas of the state, and won a majority of Pennsylvania's counties. However, he lost to Mayor Rendell by 12 points, after Mayor Rendell was victorious in the state's major population centers. Mayor Rendell went on to win the general election.
In 2004, Auditor General Casey ran for the position of State Treasurer. In the heaviest voter turnout in Pennsylvania history, and running against a little-known opponent, he won that race with more votes than any other candidate for statewide office in Pennsylvania history.
Article: Pennsylvania United States Senate election, 2006
In 2005, Treasurer Casey received calls from U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, as well as U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Minority Leader. Both men asked him to run for U.S. Senate in 2006.
On March 5, 2005, Treasurer Casey announced he would seek the Democratic nomination for the Senate race. Casey's run for the Senate was his fifth state wide campaign in nine years.
After he announced that he would run, Treasurer Casey was almost immediately endorsed by Governor Edward G. Rendell, his primary election foe from 2002. He was endorsed by two Democrats who had been mentioned as possible U.S. Senate nominees: former Congressman Joe Hoeffel, and former State Treasurer Barbara Hafer, whom many in the pro-choice movement attempted to convince to run against Treasurer Casey in the Democratic primary.
In the Democratic primary, Treasurer Casey faced two Democrats with more liberal viewpoints: college professor Chuck Pennacchio and pension lawyer Alan Sandals. Both argued that Treasurer Casey's views on abortion and other social issues were too conservative for most Pennsylvania Democrats. However, Treasurer Casey easily defeated both challengers in the May 16th primary, receiving 85% of the vote.
On General Election night, Treasurer Casey won the race with 59% of the vote, compared to 41% for incumbent Senator Rick Santorum. Treasurer Casey's margin of victory was the highest ever for a Democrat running for the United States Senate in Pennsylvania [1].
Although his views on some social issues may put him at odds with his Democratic colleagues, Sen. Bob Casey won plaudits in the cloakroom for his election victory over a major nemesis, Republican Conference Chairman Rick Santorum, the third-ranking member of the GOP leadership.
Sen. Casey is the first Pennsylvania Democrat elected to a full term in the Senate since Joseph S. Clark was reelected in 1962.
On November 15, 2006, Sen. Robert F. Casey was named to several committees, including Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Agriculture; the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee and the Special Committee on Aging. [2]
A Roman Catholic, Sen. Casey opposes abortion rights and expanding the role of the federal government in stem cell research. And he parts ways with most of his Democratic colleagues in his opposition to gun control. However, he supports the government's recent decision to allow non-prescription sales of Plan B, or the "morning-after" emergency contraceptive pill, to women 18 and older.
On health care, Sen. Casey has begun working early in his freshman year to stop the "draconian cuts to Medicare and Medicaid" and called the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan a "mess." He proposes using the State Children's Health Insurance Program, [3] which is up for reauthorization next year, to cover all uninsured children. He also supports a plan to create a health benefits program that would help small businesses.
On economic issues, he is closer to his Democratic colleagues. He supports a repeal of recent tax cuts for people making more than $200,000 a year and he supports the retention of a tax on very large estates. He supports targeted tax cuts for the middle class. Sen. Casey, who calls himself a fiscally responsible leader, favors the pay-as-you-go budget process, which requires revenue offsets to compensate for any spending increases.
Sen. Casey has less experience with foreign policy. He has said that, knowing what is known now about Iraq, he would have not supported the war. He pushes for a "clear exit strategy" but refuses to support a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawals. He also favors research on missile defense.
Sen. Casey opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants but has said he would reluctantly support a Senate bill that would allow illegal immigrants to earn citizenship after meeting certain requirements.
He also has registered opposition to recent free-trade pacts, including the Central American Free Trade Agreement.