Rick Santorum

Richard John Santorum is an American politician, attorney, author, and political commentator who represented <a href="/facts/Pennsylvania/HGqC5bBm">Pennsylvania</a> in the <a href="/facts/United_States_Senate/VyzXHE01">United States Senate</a> from 1995 to 2007. He was the Senate's <a href="/facts/Chairman_of_the_United_States_Senate_Republican_Conference/mft9MYeC">third-ranking Republican</a> during the final six years of his tenure. He also <a href="/facts/Rick_Santorum_2012_presidential_campaign/EdebyuYC">ran unsuccessfully</a> for <a href="/facts/President_of_the_United_States/oMsfmLb1">president of the United States</a> in the <a href="/facts/2012_Republican_Party_presidential_primaries/D30h80vS">2012 Republican primaries</a>, finishing second to <a href="/facts/Mitt_Romney/yh2KKjsu">Mitt Romney</a>.
Santorum was elected to the <a href="/facts/United_States_Senate/VyzXHE01">United States Senate</a> from Pennsylvania in 1994. He served two terms until losing his <a href="/facts/2006_United_States_Senate_election_in_Pennsylvania/jAUC7ulc">2006 reelection bid</a> to his opponent, <a href="/facts/Bob_Casey_Jr./wfscBHdh">Bob Casey</a>. A <a href="/facts/Catholic_Church/rJ4F4gqH">Catholic</a>, Santorum is a <a href="/facts/Social_conservatism_in_the_United_States/PUCd0xHw">social conservative</a> who opposes abortion and <a href="/facts/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States/sBMNASEK">same-sex marriage</a> and embraced a cultural warrior image during his Senate tenure. While serving as a senator, Santorum authored the <a href="/facts/Santorum_Amendment/TfjM9uP6">Santorum Amendment</a>, which would have promoted the teaching of <a href="/facts/Intelligent_design/BWx7LxGf">intelligent design</a>. He was a leading sponsor of the 2003 federal law known as the <a href="/facts/Partial-Birth_Abortion_Ban_Act/IzcTHrtS">Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act</a>.
In the years following his departure from the Senate, Santorum has worked as a consultant, private practice lawyer, and news contributor. He ran for the <a href="/facts/2012_Republican_Party_presidential_primaries/D30h80vS">Republican nomination in the 2012 U.S. presidential election</a>. Before suspending his campaign on April 10, 2012, Santorum exceeded expectations by winning 11 <a href="/facts/United_States_presidential_primary/TIWuAe0v">primaries and caucuses</a> and receiving nearly four million votes, making him the runner-up to eventual nominee <a href="/facts/Mitt_Romney/yh2KKjsu">Mitt Romney</a>. Santorum ran for president again <a href="/facts/Rick_Santorum_2016_presidential_campaign/0zVkEul0">in 2016</a>, but ended his campaign in February 2016 after a poor showing in the <a href="/facts/2016_Iowa_Republican_caucuses/YHGBTpJp">Iowa caucuses</a>. In January 2017, he became a <a href="/facts/CNN/kEYsUQqr">CNN</a> senior <a href="/facts/Pundit/oomwPJcD">political commentator</a>. However, he was terminated from his contract with CNN in May 2021 due to comments he made about Native Americans a few weeks prior which were deemed "dismissive".

Rick Santorum open-in-new

Rick Santorum