Robert Patrick Casey Jr. (born April 13, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Pennsylvania, a seat he has held since 2007. He previously served as Pennsylvania Auditor General from 1997 to 2005 and as Pennsylvania Treasurer from 2005 to 2007.
Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Casey is the son of Bob Casey, a former governor of Pennsylvania. After graduating from Scranton Preparatory School in 1978, he attended the College of the Holy Cross. He received his J.D. degree from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law. Casey practiced law in Scranton, Pennsylvania, before beginning his political career as Pennsylvania's auditor general, a post to which he was elected in 1996 and re-elected in 2000.
In 2002, Casey attempted to follow in his father's footsteps by running for governor of Pennsylvania, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by eventual general election victor Ed Rendell. After being term-limited out of his position as auditor general, Casey was elected treasurer in the 2004 election. Casey defeated two-term Republican incumbent Rick Santorum in the 2006 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania. He was reelected in 2012 and 2018, becoming Pennsylvania's first ever Democrat to win a third consecutive term in the Senate.


== Early life, education, law career and family ==
Casey was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of eight children of Ellen (née Harding) and Bob Casey, the 42nd governor of Pennsylvania. He is of Irish descent.Casey played basketball and graduated from Scranton Preparatory School in 1978. Following in his father's footsteps, he 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, 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.Casey practiced law in Scranton from 1991 until 1996.Casey and his wife Terese were married in 1985, and they have four daughters: Elyse, Caroline, Julia and Marena.


== Early political career ==


=== State Auditor General ===
Casey ran for and was elected Pennsylvania State Auditor General in 1996. He was re-elected in 2000, and served for two terms, from 1997 to 2005.In a 2002 PoliticsPA feature story designating politicians with yearbook superlatives, he was named the "Most Likely to Succeed".


=== 2002 gubernatorial election ===

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.


=== State Treasurer ===
In 2004, Casey, who was term limited in his Auditor General position, ran for State Treasurer. He was elected on a platform advocating government accountability and served from 2005 to 2007.


== U.S. Senate ==


=== Elections ===


==== 2006 ====

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. Both men asked him to run for U.S. Senate in 2006 against Republican incumbent Rick Santorum. 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.
Casey was almost immediately endorsed by Governor Ed Rendell, his primary election opponent from 2002. 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 pro-choice 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 refuted 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