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• Longtime Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched his party affiliation in April of 2009, announcing that he would run for re-election in 2010 as a Democrat.

  Upon his resignation, Spector said that he wished to benefit the people of Pennsylvania by maintaining his seniority in the five Senate committees on which he serves. On May 5, 2009, however, a Democratic resolution was issued that placed him near the bottom of the totem on each. The resolution left open the possibility of restoring Specter's seniority after the 2010 election. Specter serves on the following committees: Appropriations, Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Environment and Public Works, and the Special Committee on Aging.Washington Post: Senate Democrats Deny Specter Committee Seniority (May 5, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Born February 12, 1930 in Wichita, Kansas
  2. Assumed office: January 5, 1981
  3. Longtime Republican until he switched to the Democratic Party in April 2009NY Daily News: Pennsylvania Sen Arlen Specter to Switch Parties and Become a Dem (April 28, 2009)
  4. Spouse: Joan Specter
  5. Alma Mater: University of Pennsylvania and Yale University
  6. Previous Occupation: Lawyer/District Attorney
  7. Diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in 2005
  8. Longest-serving Senator in Pennsylvania history
  9. Religion: Jewish

• Party Switch

  In a statement, Specter said he has not represented the Republican party but "represented the people of Pennsylvania" and announced that he would run for re-election in 2010 as a Democrat.NY Daily News: Pennsylvania Sen Arlen Specter to Switch Parties and Become a Dem (April 28, 2009) The addition of Specter to party would give Democrates 60 votes, which would give control of the U.S. Senate to the Democrats.NY Daily News: Pennsylvania Sen Arlen Specter to Switch Parties and Become a Dem (April 28, 2009)

• Face the Nation

  On May 3, 2009, Specter appeared as a guest on the CBS show Face the Nation. During his appearance, Specter said that one of the reasons he left the Republican party was because they did not share his passion for funding medical research. He went on to claim that former congressman Jack Kemp, who died of cancer on May 2, would still be alive today if the government had better funded cancer research.Fox: Specter Claims Kemp Would Be Alive if Congress Better Funded Medical Research (May 4, 2009)

• Jews ad the GOP

  Specter's party switch left the GOP without any Jewish Senators, a state of affairs Specter commented on in a May 2009 interview with the New York Times Magazine. Asked whether he considered it to be a matter of concern, he observed that "there's still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner."Huffington Post: Specter: Norm Coleman Should Be Seated (May 5, 2009) Although it was unclear whether or not Specter was joking, his seeming support for Republican Coleman over Al Franken was unexpected.Huffington Post: Specter: Norm Coleman Should Be Seated (May 5, 2009)

• Law Career and Warren Commission

  Specter studied law at Yale University before starting his career as a lawyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was appointed by President Gerald Ford to the Warren Commission, investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and is credited with suggesting the "magic bullet theory," postulating that a single bullet could have caused non-fatal wounds to both Kennedy and another passenger in his car, Governor John Connally.

• Political Career

  Specter unsuccessfully ran for Philadelphia's mayor in 1967, for the Senate in 1976 and in the 1978 Pennsylvania gubernatorial primary.

  Specter eventually won a Senate seat in 1980, after Republican incumbent Richard Schweiker stepped down. He has a primarily moderate record, and has memorably taken on his Party's leadership and direction on some major issues, including the Impeachment of Bill Clinton, the nomination of Robert Bork to The U.S. Supreme Court and the domestic surveillance policies of The Bush Administration.

• Opposition to Holder

  On January 6, 2009, Specter raised his opposition to the appointment of Eric Holder as the attorney general of the United States. He based his attack partly on his questioning of Holder's alleged independent political stance.The Caucus (NYT): Republican Senator Blasts Nominee ... (January 6, 2009)

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Republican Party | U.S. Senate | George W. Bush | Bob Dole | Pennsylvania | Kansas | September 11th | Rick Santorum | Big Think | Chris Matthews Senate | Ethan Zohn

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