Bob Casey was first elected to represent Pennsylvania in the U. S. Senate in 2006 when he defeated incumbent Republican Rick Santorum. The son of a former Pennsylvania governor, Casey was born and raised in the city of Scranton, where he still lives.. He attended Holy Cross College and the University of Pittsburgh law school before embarking on a career in state politics, serving as Pennsylvania's Auditor General and Treasurer.

Casey is the longest-serving Democratic U.S. senator in Pennsylvania history and has carved out a reputation as a moderate Democrat willing to break with his party at times. He was an early critic of the Iraq War and has been outspoken in his defense of reproductive rights, even when that has put him at odds with more conservative members of his party