Arlen Specter is the senior United States Senator from Pennsylvania. He was first elected in 1980, and has been reelected five times since then. Senator Specter is widely regarded as a moderate Republican, disagreeing with the Bush Administration on numerous issues. His moderate views have affected his political career as a Republican. For example, his status as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (a position he held from January, 2005 through January, 2007) was in question when he made comments hinting that he would oppose candidates who would overturn Roe v. Wade. In addition, in the 2004 Republican Senate Primary Election, he only received 51% of the vote when the conservative Patrick Toomey challenged him. However, in the 2004 General Election, he succeeded with ease, beating Joseph Hoeffel by nine percentage points.
