The Hill’s 2012 New Members Guide

Rep.-elect Keith Rothfus (R-Pa.-12)

DATE OF BIRTH: April 25, 1962

BIRTHPLACE: Endicott, N.Y.

RESIDENCE: Sewickley, Pa.

OCCUPATION: Lawyer 

EDUCATION: B.S., State University of New York-Buffalo; J.D., University of Notre Dame

PREVIOUS OFFICE HELD: None

FAMILY: Wife, Elsie; six children

The GOP picked up a seat in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District thanks to Keith Rothfus’s victory over Rep. Mark Critz (D). Critz also had a tough primary, as the redistricting process put him in the same district with fellow Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire, whom he defeated.

Rothfus has spent most of his professional life in the private sector as an attorney, though he did work for the Department of Homeland Security from 2005 through 2007. During his tenure there, he established the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. 

Rothfus opposes the Affordable Care Act in part because of his experience as a cancer survivor. Less than two years after his initial diagnosis, he ran his first marathon, crediting the skill and innovation of the U.S. healthcare system.