A Q&A with former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey

After a decade in Harrisburg and nearly 20 years in Washington, D.C., former three-term U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is back home in Scranton, having lost reelection in one of the more notable upsets of 2024’s red-wave sweep. After taking time to catch up on his reading – Casey is a particular fan of political history, especially about the commonwealth – he recently announced that he was taking on two new roles: as senior counsel at Dilworth Paxson, the firm where he worked before going to law school, and at the University of Scranton, where, as a Leahy Distinguished Fellow in Public Service, he mentors the next generation of political leaders. 

City & State caught up with Casey to talk about his past, present and future.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Did you receive any advice about how to transition out of politics?

The broad-based advice was to take your time and not to dive into something too quickly. Also, a lot of folks urged me to think about: What makes you happy? And I don’t think I’d be happy if my new job, even if it were a very lucrative job, was to go back and forth to Washington every week and to do work that pulled me away from home. 

So what I’m doing will keep me very busy, but I can do it on a schedule that makes sense – a little bit less travel.

Does this mean you have no plans to run for office again? 

That’s exactly what it means. I’ll still be an active citizen, and I'll be supporting candidates.

What is your perspective on the results of last year’s election?

Well, one of the benefits of being away from Washington has been having more time to read history – the colonial political history of Pennsylvania, as well as the history of the early republic. 

What I’m struck by is how human nature has not changed a bit. The conflicts back in the nation’s early days were grounded in differences of opinion on policy, but they were also extraordinarily personal. It’s helpful to be able to reflect upon that, and see the ups and the downs of political fortune that often changed every two or four years. Sometimes it took six years, but except for the period from the Civil War to the Great Depression, when Republicans ran Pennsylvania top to bottom, it wasn’t as if one party ruled for decades at a time. 

Based on that perspective, what advice would you have for Democrats in 2026?

I have some thoughts, but I refrain from giving advice. It does help to have perspective, but that distance can leave out some of the realities that the current officeholders face, and often that advice is truncated – one line that doesn’t really fully capture the challenges. So yeah, I really hesitate to give advice, other than just to say that these moments tend to be cyclical. 2024 was a really strong year for Republicans, both nationally and in Pennsylvania, but 2026 is likely to be a lot different.

What concerns you most about politics right now?

Well, not, not by way of an exclusive list, but in terms of domestic policy, at the top of the list is the bill that passed in early July (President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill). That bill will have an adverse impact on people for a long, long time. That's of great concern to me as a citizen. And I think it’ll be a centerpiece, if not the leading issue, in the 2026 congressional election. 

You recently rejoined Dilworth Paxson, the law firm where you began your career four decades ago. How has the legal landscape changed since you started out – and does returning have a new resonance at a moment when our legal system is under a harsh spotlight?

No question, there are a lot of changes. It’s difficult for me to do a full analysis of that, because I was not in the legal profession for the last 28 years; I was in government.

There are some fundamentals we still have – the basic principles upon which our government was founded – and one of those is the rule of law and the role of an independent judiciary. I think every citizen has a responsibility to do what they can to try to uphold that – one of the core institutions of our government – and certainly lawyers have that responsibility as well. 

I’ll be providing clients with the benefit of my experience – a deep understanding of how policies are shaped – helping them navigate public policy, some of the changes or the ups and downs, and providing strategic counsel. And of course, using my contacts around the state to develop new businesses.

I’m also fortunate that I have the chance to be part time at the University of Scranton, mentoring the next generation of public servants. I hope, over time, that I can have an impact on a lot of young people who are considering public service, or wondering whether they should.

I get the impression that you see our American project as a series of hills and valleys – and maybe we're in a valley, but in the longer arc of our history, you sound pretty optimistic.

Because I think the only other option is to be pessimistic. There’s no third option here. You can be optimistic about the future without being naive or detached or unrealistic. 

One of the reasons I’m optimistic is because of young people. As much as we sometimes lament that we wish young people were voting in greater numbers – although those numbers have been increasing – they are engaged in politics and the public square with an intensity and a knowledge level that I don’t remember in my generation.

Young people have shown not just a willingness, but an effectiveness in demanding that we confront certain challenges in our society – taking on big issues and seeking out solutions, and using the new tools of communication to deliver their message. That gives me hope. Their continued engagement is going to be critical to a future that I think we can build – but that means that we have to do everything we can to get more of them into public service.

And I’m also hopeful because we have had periods in our history where it seemed like everything was collapsing, and we were able to fortify institutions and rebuild and move forward. That’s not to downplay the challenges we’re facing right now – the divisions that make it more difficult to arrive at solutions to big problems.

What has been the best part of life after public office?

Having an opportunity to mentor young people – and being able to do it in my hometown.

On a personal level, the best parts of being away from Washington are obviously family. I’ve had more time with our four daughters, more time with my wife, with our three grandsons. One of them was just born on June 20; I’m just getting to know him. 

On both a professional and personal level, I’ve been really blessed.