Pa. landslide: State overwhelmingly rejects GOP's No. 3 Senate leader.

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, November, 2006 | by Carrie Budoff and Emilie Lounsberry

Sen. Rick Santorum, the No. 3 Senate leader who rode into office 12 years ago on an anti-incumbent swell, succumbed yesterday to a similar wave of voter discontent, losing his seat in a landslide to Democrat Bob Casey Jr. Casey, 46, mined anger over the Iraq war, the economy, and Washington corruption to become the first Pennsylvania Democrat in more than 40 years to win a full Senate term.

The state treasurer and son of a popular former governor, Casey cast himself as the anti-Santorum, a soft-voiced moderate who would set aside ideology for pragmatism. "Tonight I believe in my heart that Pennsylvania is where the new direction for America begins," said Casey, who arrived at the Scranton Cultural Center to thunderous applause. "But what we must do together as Pennsylvanians...