Timeline: Pat Toomey’s rise from Lehigh Valley congressman to the U.S. Senate

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who became the Lehigh Valley’s most powerful elected official, will return to private life when his current term ends in 2022, he announced Monday.

“Representing the people of Pennsylvania, this big, beautiful, complicated, diverse state, has been an extraordinary honor,” Toomey, 58, said at a news conference in Bethlehem, adding that stepping away from government service “is consistent with long-held views I’ve had in support of term limits.”

Here are key points in Toomey’s career as a Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania lawmaker:

1994

Toomey, a former Wall Street banker, enters politics by serving on Allentown’s Government Study Commission.

1998

Toomey says he wants voters to know him as a small business owner and cites his frustration with government policies as the deciding factor in a run for the U.S. House of Representatives.

He’s successful in his bid, first defeating five challengers, including former state Sen. Joe Uliana, in the Republican primary. Toomey goes on to defeat then state Sen. Roy Afflerbach in November.

He takes office the following year, ultimately becoming known for leading a “conservative rebellion” by blocking spending measures he believed were too costly.

2000/2002

Toomey is re-elected to second and third terms, twice defeating Ed O’Brien, president of Bethlehem-based United Steelworkers Local 2598.

2004

Toomey voluntarily leaves the House, having pledged to serve only three terms. He attempts to unseat longtime Sen. Arlen Specter in the Republican primary but is unsuccessful.

2005

Takes the helm of the Club for Growth, a conservative organization that promotes smaller government and lower taxes, just days after his term expired and months after his unsuccessful challenge of Specter.

2010-2011

Toomey is expected to challenge Specter again in a tough rematch of 2004, but Specter witches to the Democratic Party and is defeated in the primary. Toomey wins the Republican nomination and faces Joe Sestak in the general election, winning by a narrow margin.

Toomey enters the Senate in 2011, and is named to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. He introduces a proposal to balance the budget in 10 years, but it’s met with strong support and not enacted. He also co-sponsors a bill to put regulatory control over fracking in the hands of the state.

2012

Toomey is named chairman of the United States Senate Steering Committee.

2016

Toomey is reelected to the Senate on Nov. 8, narrowly defeating Democratic nominee Katie McGinty. Toomey waits to announce he cast his ballot for his party’s nominee for president, Donald Trump, until hours before the polls close on Election Day.

2019

In February, Toomey is one of 16 senators to vote against legislation preventing a partial government shutdown. The bill contains $1.375 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The next month, he’s one of 12 Republican senators to cosponsor a resolution that would impose a constitutional amendment limiting the Supreme Court to nine justices.

2020

In April, Toomey is appointed to the Covid-19 Congressional Oversight Commission, tasked with overseeing the implementation of the CARES Act.

On Oct. 5, 2020, he announces he will end his Senate career when his current term ends. The announcement puts to rest speculation he might run for Pa. governor in 2022.