Judiciary
Top Republican on Judiciary Committee Says He’s Switching Parties
Posted Apr 28, 2009, 10:31 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he’s changing political parties.
Specter announced today that he will run in 2010 as a Democrat, according to The Fix, a blog of the Washington Post.
"Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right,” Specter said in a statement. “Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans."
The switch may give Democrats a 60-vote filibuster-proof majority if Al Franken ultimately wins an election challenge in Minnesota, the New York Times reports at its blog, The Caucus.
Specter had been facing a tough primary fight from former Rep. Pat Toomey, the Post story says.
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