UPDATED: Oct. 5, 10:30 a.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey announced officially on Monday morning that he will not be running for office in 2022 – neither seeking re-election to the Senate nor making a run for Pennsylvania governor.
Toomey, standing with his wife and three children, says his family’s sacrifice as well as his belief in term limits played into his decision, noting he’ll have been in public service for 18 years when this term ends.
"Eighteen years is a long time in a person’s life, and I have no regrets about the decisions I made to pursue this, but I’ll be finished," he said.
The former Wall Street banker-turned-politician says he plans a return to the private sector, but not before finishing his term, which he says he hopes includes being chair of the Senate banking committee, to make tax code revisions permanent and increase free-trade agreements with the U.K. and European union.
"There’s very, very exciting things happening in technology: Fintech, payment systems, the possibility of a digital currency."
And he says he supports Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.
He says he’s making the announcement now, because he’s been getting daily calls offering support for 2022.
KYW Newsradio special contributor Larry Kane said the decision was very unexpected.
"This came as a big surprise to everyone," he said, "including this reporter, who forecast a couple of months ago that he would run for governor in 2022."
Toomey was elected to the Senate in 2010, narrowly winning the seat, as well as his re-election in 2016.
Kane noted that while Toomey's politics hovered center-right, he was a practical legislator, notably breaking with his party on the issue of gun control.
"He was the only U.S. senator to sponsor a bill to increase the requirements for buying guns, and the bill was voted down," he recalled of the 2013 vote. "It was called the 'Toomey bill.' It was unsuccessful, but he tried really hard."
Toomey wrote the bill along with Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia. While the senator continued to speak in favor of gun control, even earning the endorsement of former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in 2016, he was unable to advance the bill much further.
The senator is expected to detail his reasons for retirement Monday. "Maybe he looked at the numbers, maybe he's concerned about the Republican party, the White House," speculated Kane. "That's up to him. We'll find out when he speaks in Bethlehem."