In addition to announcing his end in the Senate seat, Pat Toomey also said that he will not be running for governor. NBC10’s Lauren Mayk spoke with Senator Toomey in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, about the decision.
What to Know
- Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania will not seek re-election in 2022.
- Toomey also will not run for governor in 2022, when the seat becomes open.
- The staunch conservative is serving his second term in the presidential battleground state.
Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania will not seek re-election in 2022, he announced Monday.
"Eighteen years is a long time," Toomey said of his time in the Senate since 2010 and his three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1998-2004. "All of that time our family has lived in Pennsylvania. ... I’ve spent as little time as I could in Washington, but it still adds up to a lot of time. I’m looking forward to more time being back home."
Toomey said he also will not run for governor in 2022, when the seat becomes open.
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In addition to citing his family time, Toomey said he has long supported term limits for legislators and that played a role in his decision as well.
Toomey's announcement, which took place at a public television station near his family home in suburban Allentown, comes as a surprise. He is Pennsylvania's only statewide elected Republican official, outside of the courts, and had been widely considered the shoo-in nominee if he decided to run for governor in 2022, when Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is term-limited.
Democratic Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta responded to the news of Toomey not running for re-election with one word. "Good."
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The staunch conservative senator with an occasional willingness to work with Democratic colleagues on bipartison issues, including some aspects of gun control legislation, faced another tough re-election in 2022. He won his Senate seat by less than 2 percent in his first re-election in 2016 against Democrat Katie McGinty.
Toomey said he is looking forward to the remaining two years in his current senate term, and hopes his Republican party holds on to its majority in the senate in next month's elections.
He also said he supports President Donald Trump's re-election.
"I support his campaign and I support his re-election," Toomey said Monday.
