republican candidate for
senate Pat toomey was born in
Providence, rhode island.
raised by working-class
catholic parents, he was one of
six children. he attended La
salle academy and later
harvard university, using
scholarships and work-study to
fund his tuition. he graduated
harvard with a political science
degree.
his first job was with
chemical Bank in 1984, where
he was involved in currency
swap transactions. in 1986 he
was hired by morgan, grenfell
& co., where he dealt in multiple
foreign currencies, interest
rates and currency-related
derivatives. in 1991 he
resigned.
By 1994 he was elected to
allentown’s newly established
government study
commission. During his term,
he drafted a new charter for the
commission requiring a supermajority
for any tax increase.
the charter was approved by
allentown voters on april 23,
1996.
in 1998, he ran for the 15th
District seat against state
senator (and future allentown
mayor) roy c. afflerbach. he
won by a 10-point margin and
has been re-elected twice
since. he did not run for reelection
in 2004, fulfilling his
pledge in 1998 to only serve
three terms.
he challenged sen. arlen
specter in the republican primary
election in 2004. aided
by $2 million of advertising
from the club for growth,
toomey’s campaign theme
was that specter was not a conservative,
especially on fiscal
issues.
most of the state’s
republican establishment
closed ranks behind specter.
this included endorsements
from Pennsylvania’s other
senator, rick santorum, and
by then-President george W.
Bush. toomey lost by a 1.7
percent margin.
on april 15, 2009, toomey
announced he was planning to
challenge specter once more in
the republican senatorial primary.
on april 28, 2009,
specter announced that he was
switching parties and would
run as a Democrat. specter’s
withdrawal left toomey as the
frontrunner for the 2010
republican nomination for
u.s. senator. toomey won the
republican senate primary on
may 18, 2010.

His stance on key issu
Jobs and the Economy
toomey believes that the
government should make it
less expensive and easier
for businesses to hire people.
this can be done by
cutting taxes and decreasing
regulation. therefore
he believes it would be
necessary to eliminate the
tax on capital gains and
lower the tax on businesses,
which would make
companies more competitive,
and lead to major job
growth.
Healthcare
toomey believes the government
should have less
power over health care, and
instead believes that the
best way to lower the cost
of it is by encouraging the
growth of personally
owned and controlled
health care, allowing individuals
and businesses to
buy health care anywhere
in the country, enacting
comprehensive tort (a
wrong that involves a
breach of a civil duty owed
to someone else, e.g. a lawsuit)
reform and allowing
small businesses and
groups to join together to
form association health
plans to lower the cost of
providing healthcare.
Same-Sex Marriage:
Believes that marriage
should be between a man
and a woman and has
voted to ban same-sex marriage.
Immigration:
toomey does not believe in
amnesty for illegal aliens
currently resident in the
u.s. he believes that only
people who enter the country
legally should be
allowed the right to the
american dream. also, he
believes in securing the
american-mexican border.
Energy Resources
he supports allowing
americans to drill for oil in
the outer continental
shelf, for natural gas in
Pennsylvania’s marcellus
shale and the production of
nuclear power. he is
against raising gas taxes.
National Security
Believes that military
action should be guided
first and foremost by the
country’s national interest.
he has voted to fund programs
such as the strategic
missile defense program
and believes it is important
to be firm with nations like
iran, making sure they are
prevented from acquiring
nuclear weapons. also, he
believes soldiers must have
the equipment they need in
battle and be cared for
upon returning home.
Environment and Climate
Change
toomey is opposed to any
legislation that regulates
emissions of greenhouse
gases, like carbon dioxide,
to the atmosphere. he
believes that the relationship
between human emissions
of greenhouse gases
and the current global
warming is too uncertain to
warrant taking any legislative
action at this time.