Outgoing Sen. Bob Casey reflects on three terms in office and discusses what's next
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Democrat Bob Casey of Scranton was 46 when he knocked off incumbent Rick Santorum to win election to the U.S. Senate in 2006. Three terms later, now 64, it's Casey who's been knocked off, losing narrowly to Republican Dave McCormick in November. So what's next?
"I don't know," Casey says. "And I've got to begin to really think about that," adding, "Look, I need an income."
Casey says he'd like to continue the work he's done in office, helping children, seniors, those with disabilities and veterans — causes he championed as a senator and as state auditor general and treasurer before that.
The one office Casey once sought and lost is the job his late father once held and is held now by fellow Democrat Josh Shapiro. Should national politics lure Shapiro out of the governor's office, might Casey pursue the job?
"I never say never about running for public office," Casey says. But if he does run for public office again, he says it'll be "quite a while down the road."
Casey is more eager to discuss what he considers his top accomplishments in the Senate, including getting Obamacare through Congress in 2009.
"I played an instrumental role in passing it, and we had to get — only had to get 60 votes in the Senate to do it — and if you lost one the whole thing would come crashing down," he says.
Casey says he's also proud of bringing infrastructure funding home to Pennsylvania and passing the Able Act in 2014, allowing families to save for a disability in a tax-advantaged way, just as parents might save for their children's education.
"So in essence, because of my bill and getting it passed, now we've had a decade of families saving for a disability just like you save in a 529 plan for college," Casey says. "We delivered a lot and I'm proud of that."
Bob Casey now leaves the Capitol, a place where others scheme daily to make a media splash, satisfied with having been quietly effective and being regarded, as Philadelphia Magazine once called him, "the most regular guy in the U.S. Senate."
And Casey confirms that his fellow Pennsylvania Democrat in the Senate, John Fetterman, bestowed a nickname upon him: "Mild Thing."
"I consider it a compliment," Casey says.
