Raymond Gootlatch

Raymond Tobias Gootlatch (September 17, 1930 - October 12, 2005), was an American politician who represented the State of Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2005 in the United States Senate. Gootlatch was well known as a moderate republican for his liberal social views on abortion and LGBT rights and support for raising the federal minimum wage. Before his retirement, he was an outspoken opponent of the Patriot Act and a number of surveillance measures passed after 9/11. He would pass away shortly after retiring in 2005 from complications to non hodgkin's lymphoma. 
== Early Life and Education ==
The child of Jewish immigrants fleeing Russia, Raymond Gootlatch was born in Philadelphia on September 17th, 1930. He would enlist in the United States Air Force and serve during the Korea War in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations until 1953, when he would enroll at Yale Law School and graduate in 1956 beginning work in the district attorney's office in Philadelphia. 
== Pre-Senate Career ==
He would work on the Warren Commission which investigated the assassination of JFK before running against his former boss for the position of district attorney and became the standard bearer for the republican party in Pennsylvania. After serving two terms as DA he would run for both the Senate and the Governorship of Pennsylvania in the 70s but was defeated in the primaries both times. Finally in 1980 he would win a narrow victory for Senate.  
== Senate ==
As Senator he was famous, some would say infamous, for bucking the party trend and voting with Democrats on many issues, notably on an expansion of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. He would also criticize the impeachment efforts of republicans in the late 90s citing an unfair trial for the President. 
His time in the Senate was characterized by his support for balancing the budget and enacting stricter crime laws. His later years would be defined by his advocacy for privacy protections and rallying against DOMA.
== 1996 Presidential Bid ==
In 1996 he announced his candidacy for president, primarily to counter the strong religious conservative trend in the Republican Party at the time. His support mainly came from Pennsylvanians and those who were concerned about the movement of the party to the far-right, but dropped out before Super-Tuesday.