Pat Toomey

Pat Toomey

Patrick Joseph "Pat" Toomey (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician. He is currently the junior United States Senator for Pennsylvania, and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, Toomey served as a United States Representative for three terms, but he did not seek a fourth in compliance with a pledge he had made while running for office in 1998. He also served as president of the Club for Growth.

Toomey attended school at La Salle Academy in Providence, Rhode Island before earning an A.B. in government from Harvard College. He was employed first by Chemical Bank and subsequently Morgan, Grenfell & Co. beginning in 1984 and 1986, respectively, until resigning from the latter in 1991.

Prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate, Toomey served as the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district from 1999 to 2005. He narrowly lost the Republican primary for United States Senate in 2004. From 2005 to 2009, he served as president of the Club for Growth. After becoming the Republican nominee for the 2010 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania, Toomey was elected to the seat on November 2, 2010, defeating his Democratic opponent, retired Admiral and Congressman Joe Sestak.

In the U.S. Senate, Toomey serves on the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee on the Budget, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, among others including several subcommittees. In 2011, he also served on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. In April 2012, Toomey was named to succeed South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint as chairman of the United States Senate Steering Committee, a Senate Republican caucus.