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Arlen Specter
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===Initial electoral campaigns=== In 1965, Specter ran for Philadelphia [[district attorney]] against his former boss, incumbent James C. Crumlish Jr.<ref name=Fox1965/><ref name=WashingtonPost1965/> However, the city's Democratic leaders, such as [[Peter Camiel]], did not want Specter as their candidate, so he switched parties and ran as a Republican, prompting Crumlish to call him "Benedict Arlen".<ref name=Fox1965/><ref name=WashingtonPost1965/><ref>{{cite news|last=Mitchell|first=Andrea|title=Andrea Mitchell remembers Specter|url=http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/14/14433097-andrea-mitchell-remembers-specter|newspaper=NBC News|date=October 14, 2012}}</ref> Specter defeated Crumlish by 36,000 votes.<ref name=Fox1965/> Although he was a supporter of capital punishment, as a prosecutor he questioned the fairness of the Pennsylvania death penalty statute in 1972.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Death Rattles|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,712208,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501144650/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,712208,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 1, 2009|date=November 20, 1972|magazine=Time}}</ref> [[1967 Philadelphia mayoral election|In 1967]] he was the Republican Party standard bearer, together with City Controller candidate, [[Tom Gola]], in the Philadelphia mayoral campaign against the Democratic incumbent [[James Tate (mayor)|James Tate]]. Two of their slogans were, "We need THESE guys to watch THOSE guys" and "They're younger, they're tougher, and nobody owns them!"<ref name=WashingtonPost>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/23/AR2005052301337_pf.html|title=Watch Those Guys|last=Dionne|first=E. J.|author-link=E. J. Dionne|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 24, 2005|access-date=July 16, 2007}}</ref> He served two four-year terms as district attorney for the city of Philadelphia, but was handily defeated in his bid for a third term in 1973 by noted criminal defense attorney [[F. Emmett Fitzpatrick]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/media-specter|title=Media Specter | The New Republic|magazine=The New Republic|publisher=Tnr.com|date=September 30, 1985|access-date=June 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100507154200/http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/media-specter|archive-date=May 7, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Law: Tough, Honest and Fired|newspaper=Time|date=December 30, 1974|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,909030-1,00.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913012826/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,909030-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 13, 2012|access-date=October 22, 2011 }}</ref> In [[1976 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania|1976]], Specter ran in the Republican primary for the [[U.S. Senate]] and was defeated by [[H. John Heinz III|John Heinz]]. In [[1978 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election|1978]], he was defeated in the primary for [[Governor of Pennsylvania]] by [[Dick Thornburgh]].<ref name=UsNewsAndWorldReport>{{cite news|title=Irritating Them All |last=Samuel |first=Terence |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050912/12specter_2.htm |date=September 4, 2005 |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |access-date=July 16, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929140825/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050912/12specter_2.htm |archive-date=September 29, 2007 }}</ref> After several years in private practice with the Philadelphia law firm [[Dechert, Price & Rhoads]], Specter ran again for the U.S. Senate in [[1980 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania|1980]]. This time, he won, and assumed office in January 1981.
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