--- description: The 2016 contender came into the public eye during one of his party's most pivotal moments. title: Rick Santorum's Role in the Republican Renewal image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt170a897920374545/698851d8e53aba0fd74dde41/rick-santorum2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [politics](/tag/politics/) ## politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Rick Santorum's Role in the Republican Renewal  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 27, 2015 6:40 PM CUT  Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during the Iowa Republican Party's Lincoln Dinner, on May 16, 2015, in Des Moines. 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](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 27, 2015 6:40 PM CUT Rick Santorum, in [announcing on Wednesday](http://time.com/3897266/rick-santorum-2016-gop-history/ "undefined") 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](http://time.com/vault/issue/1994-09-12/page/43/ "undefined") Santorum as a barometer of the nation’s stance toward issues that stretched far beyond the state’s borders: --- > “” --- 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](http://time.com/vault/issue/1994-11-21/page/1/ "undefined") ### LIFE's Best Convention Photos: The GOP  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. Lynn Pelham—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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. Bill Ray—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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. Michael Rougier—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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 platform Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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. Michael Rougier—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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. Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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. 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. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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. Gjon Mili—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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. Thomas McAvoy—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  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. 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.) David E. Scherman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3898323/rick-santorum-1994/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3898323/rick-santorum-1994/"},"headline":"Rick Santorum's Role in the Republican Renewal","datePublished":"2015-05-27T18:40:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:19.124Z","description":"The 2016 contender came into the public eye during one of his party's most pivotal moments","url":"https://time.com/3898323/rick-santorum-1994/","keywords":["politics","2016","Election","campaign","rick santorum"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt170a897920374545/698851d8e53aba0fd74dde41/rick-santorum2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt170a897920374545/698851d8e53aba0fd74dde41/rick-santorum2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"rick santorum pennsylvania iowa republican","caption":"rick santorum pennsylvania iowa republican","creditText":"Charlie Neibergall—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3898323/rick-santorum-1994/","name":"Rick Santorum's Role in the Republican Renewal"}}]}] ```