A Scranton childhood

Robert Patrick Casey Jr. was born April 13, 1960, one of eight children in the household of Bob and Ellen Casey. His father was a Scranton lawyer who would later serve as Pennsylvania’s 42nd governor. The family traced its roots to the anthracite region through Bob Sr.’s great-grandfather Edward, who emigrated from Ireland during the famine of 1851.

Casey attended Scranton Preparatory School, the Jesuit high school where his father had also studied. He played basketball for four years and was voted co-captain of the team alongside Ward Fitzpatrick. He graduated in 1978.

Education and early career

Casey enrolled at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he met his future wife, Terese Foppiano. He graduated in 1982. Before law school, he spent a year as a Jesuit Volunteer, teaching fifth grade and coaching basketball at Gesu School in North Philadelphia.

He earned his law degree from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America in 1988 and returned to Scranton to practice. He and Terese married on May 26, 1985. They raised four daughters in the Hill Section of Scranton, living in the same house for over 35 years.

State government

Casey ran for Pennsylvania Auditor General in 1996 and won. He was re-elected in 2000, ultimately serving eight years in the position from 1997 to 2005. Term-limited, he ran for State Treasurer in 2004 and won that office as well, serving from 2005 to 2007.

His father died on May 30, 2000, at Mercy Hospital in Scranton, after years of health complications following a heart-liver transplant in 1993. The elder Casey was 68.

The Santorum race

In 2005, Senate Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid recruited Casey to challenge Republican incumbent Rick Santorum. Casey launched his campaign on March 5, 2005.

The November 2006 election was not close. Casey won with 58.7 percent of the vote to Santorum’s 41.3 percent. His 17.4-point margin was the largest ever for a Democratic Senate candidate in Pennsylvania and the largest defeat of an incumbent senator since 1980.

Eighteen years in the Senate

Casey took his Senate seat on January 3, 2007. He won re-election three times: defeating mining executive Tom Smith by 9.1 points in 2012, former Hazleton mayor Lou Barletta by 12.8 points in 2018, and becoming the longest-serving Democratic senator in Pennsylvania history.

Over his 18 years, Casey was the primary sponsor of 33 bills that became law. His most notable achievement was the ABLE Act, which he championed for six years before its passage in December 2014. The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act allowed people with disabilities to save money in tax-advantaged accounts without losing their federal benefits. Before ABLE, the asset limit was $2,000, effectively trapping many disabled Americans in poverty.

Other legislation Casey shepherded through Congress included the Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act, which required employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers, and the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, which mandated reporting of campus sexual assaults.

Health and the 2024 campaign

In January 2023, Casey announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent surgery the following month at a hospital in Washington. His doctors reported the procedure went well and no further treatment would be required.

He entered the 2024 race seeking a fourth term. Polls consistently showed him with a slight lead over Republican challenger David McCormick, a former hedge fund executive who had lost the 2022 Republican primary to Mehmet Oz.

The result was the closest Senate race in Pennsylvania history. McCormick won by 16,000 votes out of more than 6.8 million cast, a margin of 0.22 percent. Casey conceded on November 21, 2024, after a statewide recount confirmed the result.

Return to Scranton

Casey left office on January 3, 2025. He and Terese remained in their longtime home in the Hill Section, a few blocks from the University of Scranton campus.

In August 2025, the University of Scranton announced that Casey had joined the school as Leahy Distinguished Fellow in Public Service. In the role, he mentors students interested in public service careers and advises the Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service. He also joined the Philadelphia law firm Dilworth Paxson, where he had worked as a paralegal decades earlier.