Rick Santorum’s Role in the Republican Renewal

3 minute read
rick santorum pennsylvania iowa republican
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during the Iowa Republican Party's Lincoln Dinner, on May 16, 2015, in Des Moines.Charlie Neibergall—AP
By Lily Rothman

Rick Santorum, in announcing on Wednesday that he would try for the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential race, joins a crowded field of political contenders.

But it won’t be the first time that the former Pennsylvania Senator and 2012 also-ran has made a splash as part of a large group.

When Santorum first made national news, it was in 1994, as an upstart Congressman going to bat for Senator Harris Wofford’s seat. In covering the race, TIME cast Santorum as a barometer of the nation’s stance toward issues that stretched far beyond the state’s borders:

A party that opposes the President unyieldingly, he reasons, gets a nice, sharp profile. It could work, for instance, on health-care reform, one battle most Americans tell pollsters they are are no longer sure they want the President to win. That the issue, once a sure plus for Democrats, is now a more complicated blessing is evident in Pennsylania, where Democratic Senator Harris Wofford is in a tricky race against Rick Santorum, a Republican Congressman who promises to protect voters from government interference in their health-care decisions. It was Wofford’s surprise victory three years ago over Dick Thornburgh, after a campaign that made health-care reform an issue, that first alerted politicians to its potential. But while Wofford is far ahead of Santorum in fund raising this year, their contest is a toss-up. ”Health care is a significant factor that has energized a lot of people who are nonpolitical,” says Santorum, with the clear implication that this time the newcomers are his.

As we now know, of course, Santorum was right.

That was the year of Newt Gingrich’s ascension, and when election time rolled around, the Republican Party’s midterm gains were immense. As TIME put it, “voters angrily revoked the Democrats’ 40-year lease on the Congress,” as the G.O.P. picked up seats in both houses of Congress and in gubernatorial seats across the country. Representative Toby Roth of Wisconsin put it even more strongly: “[This] was more than an election. It was a revolution.”

Santorum’s conservative appeal to voters carried the day in Pennsylvania, just as his colleagues found success in other states. The political sea change of 1994 continues to reverberate throughout the political world—and Santorum’s latest try for the presidency is only one way of many.

Read the full cover story, here in the TIME Vault: G.O.P. Stampede

LIFE's Best Convention Photos: The GOP

Scene at the 1968 Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, Florida.
Scene at the 1968 Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, Florida.Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene at the 1968 Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, Florida.
Scene at the 1968 Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, Florida.Lynn Pelham—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Go-go girl and delegates during the 1968 Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, Florida.
Go-go girl and delegates during the 1968 Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, Florida.Lynn Pelham—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Arizona politician and future U.S. Attorney General Richard Kleindienst (left) confers with Nebraska's Richard Herman during the 1964 GOP National Convention in San Francisco.
Arizona politician and future U.S. Attorney General Richard Kleindienst (left) confers with Nebraska's Richard Herman during the 1964 GOP National Convention in San Francisco.Bill Ray—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Ronald Reagan at the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco.
Ronald Reagan at the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco.Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago.
Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago.Michael Rougier—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Not originally published in LIFE. During the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Martin Luther King Jr. leads a demonstration calling for a strong Civil Rights plank in the GOP campaign platform.
Not originally published in LIFE. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (center) During the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Martin Luther King Jr. leads a demonstration calling for a strong Civil Rights plank in the GOP campaign platform.leading Negro demonstration for strong Civil Rights plank in COP campaign platformFrancis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago.
Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago.Michael Rougier—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago.
Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago.Michael Rougier—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene at the 1956 Republican National Convention, San Francisco, California.
Scene at the 1956 Republican National Convention, San Francisco, California.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Left to right: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his wife Mamie, Richard M. Nixon and his wife, Pat, at the 1956 GOP National Convention, San Francisco, California.
Left to right: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his wife Mamie, Richard M. Nixon and his wife, Pat, at the 1956 GOP National Convention, San Francisco, California.Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene at the 1956 Republican National Convention, San Francisco.
Scene at the 1956 Republican National Convention, San Francisco.Leonard McCombe—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Chairman of the Republican National Committee Arthur E. Summerfield on the telephone during the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.
Chairman of the Republican National Committee Arthur E. Summerfield on the telephone during the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Control booth, 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.
Control booth, 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.Cornell Capa—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Bertha Baur, a prominent figure at conventions for decades and a long-time member of the Republican National Committee, in an elephant hat at the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.
Bertha Baur, a prominent figure at conventions for decades and a long-time member of the Republican National Committee, in an elephant hat at the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Pennsylvania Governor John Fine (left) and Arthur Summerfield chat in private during the 1952 Republican National Convention in Chicago.
Pennsylvania Governor John Fine (left) and Arthur Summerfield chat in private during the 1952 Republican National Convention in Chicago.Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Republicans hold an informal conference in a kitchen during the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.
Republicans hold an informal conference in a kitchen during the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.Cornell Capa—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Vice-presidential nominee Richard Nixon and his wife Pat talk with photographers during the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.
Vice-presidential nominee Richard Nixon and his wife Pat talk with photographers during the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene at the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.
Scene at the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago.Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene at the 1948 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia.
Scene at the 1948 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia.Gjon Mili—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene at the 1948 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia.
Scene at the 1948 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia.Gjon Mili—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Pennsylvania delegates to the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago pull cold beers from a tub of ice after a caucus meeting.
Pennsylvania delegates to the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago pull cold beers from a tub of ice after a caucus meeting.Thomas McAvoy—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Delegates listen to Herbert Hoover during the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago.
Delegates listen to Herbert Hoover during the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago.Gordon Coster—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
A model wears a bathing suit in a fashion show at Ohio senator Robert Taft's headquarters during the 1940 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia.
A model wears a bathing suit in a fashion show at Ohio senator Robert Taft's headquarters during the 1940 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
A young Republican rests on a sofa in the Hotel Adelphi during the 1940 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia. ("Van" is Sen. Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, long considered a front-runner for the GOP nomination; instead, the Republicans nominated Indiana's Wendell Willkie, who lost the election to the Democratic incumbent, FDR.)
A young Republican rests on a sofa in the Hotel Adelphi during the 1940 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia. ("Van" is Sen. Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, long considered a front-runner for the GOP nomination; instead, the Republicans nominated Indiana's Wendell Willkie, who lost the election to the Democratic incumbent, FDR.)David E. Scherman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

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Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com