U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is in the final days as one of Pennsylvania’s two members of the upper house of Congress and one of the few holders of that office who has ever lived in the Lehigh Valley.

Many are surprised to hear that Toomey is a resident of Zionsville, Upper Milford Township, Lehigh County. He announced in October 2020 that he would not seek a third six-year term and would return instead to the private sector. “The reasons I have reached this decision are not political; they’re personal,” Toomey said. Toomey has still not revealed his post-Senate plans.

Toomey will be succeeded by Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who defeated Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz whom Toomey supported.

Toomey was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict former President Donald Trump during impeachment proceedings in 2000. Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives, but the vote in the Senate came up three votes short of conviction.

At that time, a vote against Trump was considered a sure political death warrant, but since Toomey was not running for re-election, he was able to make what was then considered to be a bold move against the president. Since then, even though Trump has announced he is running for president in 2024, his star has been tarnished by his support for weak GOP candidates which contributed to many fewer successes than the GOP was expecting in the recent midterm elections.

In explaining his vote against Trump, for whom he voted in 2016 and 2020, Toomey said Trump’s behavior after the election “betrayed the confidence millions of us placed in him.” Noting that for the first time in American history that the transfer of power from one administration to the next was not peaceful, Toomey said, “A lawless attempt to retain power by a president was one of the founders’ greatest fears motivating the inclusion of the impeachment authorization in the U.S. Constitution.”

More recently, Toomey blamed Trump for the midterm “debacle.” He said the more MAGA a candidate was, the more they tended to underperform, even in their own states, Toomey said.

(MAGA stands for “Make America Great Again” and is considered a rallying cry for Trump supporters since Trump has used it extensively as a slogan during his successful 2016 campaign and his 2020 defeat.)

Toomey predicted that the dismal showing on Nov. 8 by top-of-the-ballot gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano and U.S. Senate candidate Oz, both supported by Trump, would result in the Republican Party moving away from Trump’s influence.

A recent poll seems to bear out Toomey’s prediction. Toomey also said that while Trump’s star is falling that of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is rising, another prediction borne out by the same poll. The results in Florida, including DeSantis’s overwhelming re-election by a wide margin, were one of the bright spots for the GOP in the midterms vs. expectations.

The recent Quinnipiac poll showed 57% of those polled thought it was a bad idea for Trump to run in 2024, while 34% think it is a good thing. Democrats and independents overwhelmingly believe it is a bad idea that Trump is in the race again.

DeSantis’ support among Republicans has grown considerably as 60% of the GOP polled by the Quinnipiac poll said they would like to see him run for office while just 26% were against the idea. Overall, 43% of those polled said they would prefer that DeSantis be the GOP nominee rather than Trump.

Toomey joined the Senate in 2011, running on a platform of economic and job growth, restoring fiscal responsibility and creating stronger, safer communities. The Philadelphia Inquirer labeled him as “a leading voice on money matters” in Congress since so many of his colleagues sought him out for his views on financial reform.

Before being elected to the Senate, Toomey served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1999-2005), exactly the number of terms he pledged to seek and no more. He narrowly lost the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2004 to long-time incumbent Arlen Specter by just 17,000 votes.

Toomey, 61, is a graduate of Harvard University and at one time operated Rookie’s Restaurant in Allentown with his brothers. As a member of Allentown’s Government Study Committee, he was instrumental in 1994 in drawing a new charter for the City of Allentown under which it is ruled today.

Toomey is the first Lehigh Valley resident to serve in the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania since Richard Brodhead, an Easton Democrat did (1851-57).

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com